The White-brow hawkmoth (Gnathothlibus erotus) is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Sphingidae

Sphingidae

Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...

 family. It is found from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 to the south Pacific, including Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

, the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

, the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 70 mm. Adults have brown fore wings with a faint pattern of light and dark markings, and bright yellow hind wings with dark margins.

Larvae have been recorded on a wide range of plants, including Ipomoea batatas, Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....

, Dillenia alata, Escallonia macrantha, Melastoma affine

Melastoma affine

Melastoma affine, also known by the common names Blue Tongue or Native Lassiandra ,Nekkarika in Kannada, is a shrub of the Melastomataceae family. Distributed in tropical and sub-tropical forests of India, South-east Asia and Australia, it is a plant of rainforest margins...

, Pentas lanceolata

Pentas lanceolata

Pentas lanceolata, the Egyptian Starcluster, is known for its wide use as a garden plant where it often accompanies butterfly gardens ....

, Cayratia acris

Cayratia acris

Cayratia acris is a species of plant native to Australia and Papua New Guinea....

, Cayratia clematidea

Cayratia clematidea

Cayratia clematidea, known as the Native Grape or Slender Grape, is a common Australian vine in the grape family. Growing in or on the edges of rainforest, from the Shoalhaven River gorges north to Queensland. Tendrils form opposite the leaf.- Description :Cayratia clematidea has compound leaves...

, Cayratia trifolia

Cayratia trifolia

Cayratia trifolia is a species of liana plant native to Australia and Asia. It has black-colored berries, and its leaves contain several flavonoids, such as cyanidin and delphinidin. Hydrocyanic acid is present in the stem, leaves and roots....

, Leea indica
Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Virginia creeper, five-leaved ivy, or five-finger is a woody vine native to eastern and central North America, in southeastern Canada, the eastern and central United States, eastern Mexico, and Guatemala, west as far as Manitoba, South Dakota, Utah and Texas.-Growth:It is a prolific climber,...

, Hibbertia scandens

Hibbertia scandens

Hibbertia scandens is a vine which is native to Australia.-Description:...

, Cissus

Cissus

Cissus is a genus of approximately 350 species of woody vines in the grape family . They have a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority are to be found in the tropics. In Tamil they are known as pirandai .-Medicinal:...

and Morinda

Morinda

Morinda is a genus of flowering plants in the madder family, Rubiaceae. The generic name is derived from the Latin words morus, meaning "mulberry," and indica, meaning "of India," referring to the shape of the fruits. -Description:...

.

Subspecies

• Gnathothlibus erotus erotus (Oriental tropics)
• Gnathothlibus erotus eras (from the Moluccas eastwards)

External links

• Gnathothlibus erotus Cook Islands Biodiversity Database
• Australian Insects
• Moths of Borneo