Agrius convolvuli

Feeding in flight

Showing length of proboscis Both near Rila Monastery, Bulgaria
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Agrius
Species:	A. convolvuli
Binomial name
*Agrius convolvuli* (Linnaeus, 1758)^[1]

Distribution (red – permanent; orange – migrant)
Synonyms
Sphinx convolvuli Linnaeus, 1758 Herse convolvuli Protoparce orientalis Butler, 1876 Sphinx abadonna Fabricius, 1798 Sphinx distans Butler, 1876^[2] Sphinx patatas Ménétriés, 1857 Sphinx pseudoconvolvuli Schaufuss, 1870 Sphinx roseafasciata Koch, 1865 Sphinx convolvuli alicea Neuburger, 1899 Sphinx convolvuli batatae Christ, 1882 Sphinx convolvuli nigricans Cannaviello, 1900 Agrius convolvuli aksuensis O. Bang-Haas, 1927 Agrius convolvuli fuscosignata Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli grisea Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli ichangensis Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli intermedia Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli javanensis Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli major Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli minor Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli obscura Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli suffusa Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli tahitiensis Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli unicolor Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli variegata Tutt, 1904 Agrius convolvuli virgata Tutt, 1904 Herse convolvuli extincta Gehlen, 1928 Herse convolvuli marshallensis Clark, 1922 Herse convolvuli peitaihoensis Clark, 1922 Herse convolvuli posticoconflua Bryk, 1946 Protoparce convolvuli fasciata Pillich, 1909 Protoparce convolvuli indica Skell, 1913

Agrius convolvuli, the convolvulus hawk-moth, is a large hawk-moth. It is common throughout Europe, Asia, Africa,^[3] Australia^[4] and New Zealand,^[5] partly as a migrant. In New Zealand, it is also known as the kumara moth, and in the Māori language as hīhue.^[6]

Description and habits

The wingspan is 80–105 mm. This hawkmoth's basic coloration is in grayish tones, but the abdomen has a broad gray dorsal stripe and pink and black bands edged with white on the sides. The hindwings are light gray with darker broad crosslines.^[7]

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Its favourite time is around sunset and during the twilight, when it is seen in gardens hovering over the flowers. This moth is very attracted to light, so it is often killed by cars on highways. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of the Convolvulus, hence its Latin name "convolvuli". Other recorded food plants include a wide range of plants in the families Araceae, Convolvulaceae, Leguminosae and Malvaceae. It can be a pest of cultivated Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato or kūmara) in New Zealand and the Pacific. It feeds on the wing and has a very long proboscis (longer than its body) that enables it to feed on long trumpet-like flowers such as Nicotiana sylvestris.^[8]

The caterpillars can be in a number of different colours. As well as brown (pictured below) they have been seen in bright green and black.^[9]

Similar species

A. convolvuli is unmistakable in the eastern area of distribution, in the western area of distribution it can be mistaken for Agrius cingulata. This species, found mainly in South and Central America, is repeatedly detected on the western shores of Europe. Agrius cingulata can be distinguished on the basis of the clearly stronger pink colouring of the abdominal segments and a similarly coloured rear wing base. In addition, Agrius convolvuli form pseudoconvolvuli Schaufuss, 1870 has some resemblance with North American species in the genus Manduca, for instance Manduca sexta.^{[citation needed]}