AT A GLANCE
- Common Name: Poplar Hawk-moth
- Scientific Name: Laothoe populi
- Category: Invertebrates
- Subcategory: Insects
- Range: Widespread across the Palearctic realm, throughout Europe from northern Scandinavia and the British Isles south to the Mediterranean, and east across Russia to China
- Habitat Type: Broadleaved deciduous woodlands, riverbanks, marshes, suburban parks, poplar plantations, and gardens where poplars, aspens, or willows grow
- IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (widely distributed and very common)
- Lifespan: Adult lives 7 to 10 days (non-feeding); one or two generations per year
- Diet: Herbivorous (adults have non-functional mouthparts and do not feed; caterpillars eat leaves of poplars (Populus), trembling aspen, and willows (Salix))
- Average Size/Weight: Wingspan 70 to 100 mm; body length 35 to 45 mm (one of Europe’s largest common hawk-moths)
- Key Defining Feature: Large, heavily built moth with scalloped ash-grey wings held in a strange roof-like posture where the hindwings project forward past the forewings, concealing a startling bright rust-red flash patch
Overview
The Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) is one of the most magnificent, common, and anatomically curious nocturnal insects of the European summer. Belonging to the hawk-moth family Sphingidae, this large, velvety-furred giant is an absolute master of deception. When resting during the day, it looks exactly like a ragged, dead brown leaf; if poked or disturbed by a hungry bird, it suddenly jerks forward to reveal a blazing patch of fiery rust-orange on its hindwings, shocking the attacker into flight.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Laothoe populi is a robust, heavy-bodied moth with a wingspan that can reach up to 10 cm. Its wings have deeply scalloped, wavy margins and are colored an exquisite mottled blend of ash-grey, olive-buff, and hazel-brown, accented by a tiny white crescent-shaped spot at the center of each forewing. Its resting posture is utterly bizarre: it holds its wings folded tightly in a steep tent, with the hindwings pushed forward so they project conspicuously ahead of the front wings. At the base of each hindwing lies a hidden, vibrant patch of rich brick-red or coppery-rufous scales. Like the Lime Hawk-moth, the adult has completely non-functional mouthparts and never feeds.
Behavior and Ecology
Poplar Hawk-moths fly late at night, typically between midnight and 2:00 AM, and are strongly attracted to artificial lights and illuminated windows. When resting on tree bark during the day, their leaf-like silhouette and drab grey coloration render them virtually invisible to birds. If a predator discovers the moth and pecks at it, the moth deploys a dramatic startle display: it snaps its wings open and pumps its body, flashing the bright copper-red patches on its hindwings in a sudden burst of warning color that mimics a wasp or stinging insect. The caterpillar is a handsome, fat, lime-green larva decorated with yellow diagonal stripes and a sharp yellow tail horn.
Conservation and Human Impact
The Poplar Hawk-moth has not been evaluated by the IUCN, but is universally recognized as extremely abundant, widespread, and ecologically secure throughout the Palearctic. It thrives in cities, suburban gardens, and countryside woodlands wherever poplars, trembling aspens, and weeping willows are present.
Interesting Factoid
When sleeping on a tree trunk, the Poplar Hawk-moth looks like a dry, crumpled dead leaf, but if a bird pecks at it, the moth snaps open its wings to flash a pair of blazing rust-red patches that startle the bird into flying away.