Lime hawk moth - (Mimas tiliae)

[Roger KENDRICK]

Hi Russ,

Sorry to disappoint you, but this is not a rare moth - in England at least (not
common at all in Wales and unknown from Scotland). Internationally, it's
distributed right across the Palaearctic region  from western Europe to Japan.
In England, the Lime Hawk is particularly associated with lime trees (Tilia
spp. & hybrids) in urban situations (planted trees along streets), as well as
English elm (Ulmus procera), alder (Alnus glutinosa) and possibly birch
(Betula) spp., oak (Quercus) spp. and Prunus spp. in more rural settings.
(Gilchrist, 1983).
Nice moth though (I've recorded this regularly in May at my home in Coventry,
West Midlands, from 1991 through 1996 - been elswhere since).

hope this helps,

Roger.

[ref.
Gilchrist, W.L.R.E., 1983. Sphingidae. pp. 20-39 in Heath, J. & Emmet, A.M.,
The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland, volume 9. Harley Books,
Colchester, Essex, England.]

Russell England wrote:

> I don't know anything about moths, but after looking through several
> pictures on the internet, it appears we had a lime hawk moth (Mimas tiliae)
> in our garden yesterday afternoon.
>
> It was at the bottom of our silver birch tree. I have a picture of it for
> anyone that is interested.
>
> Is this a rare moth?
>
> Our approximate coordinates are:
>
> Latitude 52.469 decimal degrees North
> Longitude 2.159 decimal degrees West
>
> which is Wollaston, Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK
>
> Cheers
>
> Russ

--
Roger C. KENDRICK
  Demonstrator / Ph.D. Student
  Dept. of Ecology & Biodiversity, The University of Hong Kong
  mailto:kendrick at hkusua.hku.hk

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