GB: Foxtail-lily Hawkmoth, RU: Aeremurosovyi Brazhnik
Deilephila siehei Püngeler, 1903, Berl. ent. Z. 47: 235.Type locality: Bulghar Dagh [Bolkar Daglari, Toros Mountains, Turkey].
Holarctic; western Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Monocentric -- Pontomediterranean refuge.
Wingspan: 65--70mm. Central gap in the oblique median stripe of forewing (very apparent in subsp. centralasiae) much reduced, or absent. Most also have a distinct rosy hue to both wings and body.
Apparently confined to the upper elevations of the eastern Toros and Bolkar Mountains in southern Turkey and to parts of northern Syria, where it is found in similar locations to subsp. centralasiae, i.e. rocky, herb-rich steppe.
Univoltine, so far as known; late May and June.
OVUM: Almost spherical, 1--1.3mm; blue-green when freshly laid, becoming yellowish as the larva inside develops. Laid indiscriminately on the seed- and flower-heads of the hostplant, with up to fifteen per plant. This stage lasts 5--6 days (Pelzer, 1982).
LARVA: Full-fed, 70--80mm. Polymorphic: brownish grey, off-white, greenish olive or black.
Early instars as H. c. centralasiae. In the final instar, most larvae are pale brownish grey with a rose dorsal suffusion. The very large, single, dorso-lateral eye-spots are brilliant white and heavily ringed with black. The spiracles are also white, but ringed with red. The white speckling and the ventro-lateral stripe are absent (Pelzer, 1982). In black larvae, the eye-spots may be very reduced or absent.
The larvae feed quite openly on the seed- and flower-heads of their hostplant, alternating bouts of frenzied feeding with spells of basking.
Occurs mainly during June and July.
Major Hostplants. The seed- and flower-heads of Eremurus, such as E. himalaicus, E. olgae, E. robustus, E. krudica and E. stenophyllus (Danner, Eitschberger & Surholt, 1998).
Minor Hostplants. The seedheads of Asphodelus (Pelzer, 1982) and Asphodeline (Danner, Eitschberger & Surholt, 1998); the leaves are never eaten. [In captivity this subspecies will accept Kniphofia as a hostplant as well as all cultivated forms of Eremurus.]
PUPA: 40--50mm. As H. euphorbiae, but paler. Many spend several years in this stage.
None recorded.
The eastern Toros and Bolkar Mountains of southern Turkey (Daniel, 1932), eastern Turkey, Armenia (Danner, Eitschberger & Surholt, 1998), northern Syria, northern Iraq and northern Iran. Thence probably south along the Zagros Mountains of Iran to Kerman Province, from where one specimen has been recorded (Zahiri, pers. comm. 2007).
Extra-limital range. None.
From northeastern Iran, Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan, southern Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan to northern and eastern Afghanistan, northern Xinjiang Province, China, western Pakistan and Mongolia as subsp. centralasiae.
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