Privet hawk-moth

Sphinx ligustri, the privet hawk-moth, is Britain's largest resident hawk-moth, with a wingspan of 90–120 mm and a distinctive abdomen banded in pink and black. Its bright green caterpillars, striped with lilac and white diagonal markings, feed mainly on privet but also on ash, lilac, jasmine, and related shrubs from July to August before pupating underground. Adults are on the wing in June and July, taking nectar at dusk from night-scented, deep-tubed flowers such as honeysuckle and jasmine. The species ranges across most of the Palearctic, from western Europe and northwest Africa east through temperate Asia to Japan; in Britain it is most common in the southern half of England and makes use of gardens where privet hedges, lilac, or honeysuckle are present.

Larval host plants · 1

Nectar plants · 1

Widespread across the Palearctic from northwest Africa and western Europe (including southern Britain) east through central and temperate Asia, reaching the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, Japan. In the British Isles it is predominantly found in the southern half of England and Wales, becoming local in the Midlands and rarer further north.