GB: Spurge Hawkmoth, F: Sphinx de l'Euphorbe, D: Wolfsmilchschwärmer, RU: Molochainyi Brazhnik, S: Vitsprötad Skymningssvämare, NL: Wolfsmelkpijlstaart, CZ: lisaj pryscový, H: kutyatejszender, E: esfinge de la lechetrezna
Deilephila robertsi Butler, 1880, Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1880: 412.Type locality: Kandahar, Afghanistan.
(Taxonomic note. The eastern populations from the Pamirs, Afghanistan and ?Kashmir (subsp. orientalis Ebert, 1969) are often regarded as a separate subspecies of Hyles robertsi, which some authors consider to be a distinct species. Given the variability of Hyles spp., the arguments used to support this view are not tenable. Larvae from Shiraz, Iran, which produced typical adults of Hyles euphorbiae robertsi, were indistinguishable from larvae from southern Turkey which produced typical Hyles euphorbiae conspicua. Indeed, in northern Iran and across southern Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the two subspecies intergrade, with many intermediate adult forms present. This amalgamation is supported by Meerman (1993) and Hundsdoerfer et al. (2005b).)
Holarctic; western Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Polycentric -- Turkestan and Turanoeremic refugia.
Wingspan: 65--85mm. Very similar to Hyles euphorbiae euphorbiae but usually distinguished by the silver-white, oblique median stripe of the forewing and by the fringes of the tergites being pure white. In some individuals the oblique median stripe and forewing submarginal areas may be flushed with pale pink, and in others speckled with many small, dark streaks. Females are often very much larger than the males.
A montane subspecies occurring on dry, rocky slopes with Euphorbia, e.g. open steppe. Behaviour similar to subsp. euphorbiae.
End of March to June or later in a number of broods.
OVUM: Very similar to that of subsp. euphorbiae.
LARVA: Full-fed, 80--100mm.
The ground colour varies from yellowish green through ochreous yellow to black; however, the general pattern remains the same for both forms (plus or minus the number of small white spots) and is very similar to that of some southern European forms of subsp. euphorbiae.
Hostplants. Herbaceous Euphorbia spp.
PUPA: Indistinguishable from subsp. euphorbiae. Overwinters as a pupa.
None recorded.
Iran (Daniel, 1971; Kalali, 1976), the Kopet Dag Mountains of Turkmenistan (Derzhavets, 1984), eastward to central and eastern Afghanistan (Bell & Scott, 1937; Ebert, 1969; Daniel, 1971), ?Kashmir and the Pamirs (Ebert, 1969). As adults are easily confused with Hyles euphorbiae euphorbiae, Hyles costata and Hyles nervosa, the exact distribution of this subspecies is not fully known; records from Kashmir are unconfirmed.
Extra-limital range. Western Pakistan (Daniel, 1971)
As subsp. Hyles euphorbiae euphorbiae, from western, southern and central Europe to the Urals, southern western Siberia, the western fringes of the Altai Mountains and western China (Xinjiang Province). Also, northern Turkey, Transcaucasia, northern Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Also introduced into many areas of the U.S.A. and Canada
Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, southern Turkey, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran as subsp. Hyles euphorbiae conspicua, with an isolated population in the south-western mountains of Saudi Arabia.
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