Laothoe amurensis
Encyclopedia
The Aspen Hawk-moth is a moth
of the family Sphingidae
. It is found in the Northern part of the Palearctic ecozone. It flies in May and can be found only in far-Eastern Europe, including parts of Poland
, Finland
, Ukraine
and Belarus
. It exists also in Asia as few another subspecies. In spite of being very rare, it isn't protected, e.g. in Poland
. There are known few places where obtaining this moth by attracting to light is possible.
The wingspan
is 71-98 mm. Very similar to Laothoe populi, a common European moth found everywhere, but bigger and much more dark.
Eggs laid singly or in small groups of 2-4 pieces are laid on the underside of leaves.
The larvae feed singly on Populus tremula
and Willow
. Green with 7 pale stripes, look like L. populi caterpillars, but, opposite to it, have got 2-3 little "horns" above its head; difficult to distinguish.
This moth spends winter as chrystalid in the soil.
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 family 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,...
. It is found in the Northern part of the Palearctic ecozone. It flies in May and can be found only in far-Eastern Europe, including parts of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. It exists also in Asia as few another subspecies. In spite of being very rare, it isn't protected, e.g. in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. There are known few places where obtaining this moth by attracting to light is possible.
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 71-98 mm. Very similar to Laothoe populi, a common European moth found everywhere, but bigger and much more dark.
Eggs laid singly or in small groups of 2-4 pieces are laid on the underside of leaves.
The larvae feed singly on Populus tremula
Populus tremula
Populus tremula, commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, trembling poplar, or quaking aspen, is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from the British Isles east to Kamchatka, north to inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and...
and Willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
. Green with 7 pale stripes, look like L. populi caterpillars, but, opposite to it, have got 2-3 little "horns" above its head; difficult to distinguish.
This moth spends winter as chrystalid in the soil.
Species
- Laothoe amurensis amurensis (from central Poland and southern Finland, east through Russia, southern Siberia and Yakutia to the Pacific coast, including Sakhalin Island. In the eastern Palaearctic, it occurs south as far as the Altai Mountains of Xinjiang, northern Mongolia, northern Heilongjiang, Primorskiy Kray and Hokkaido and Honshu in Japan)
- Laothoe amurensis sinica Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (China and Korea)