Oak hawkmoth
Marumba quercus
The oak hawkmoth is a big, strong hawkmoth from southern Europe. Its wings can measure more than 12 centimetres across. As its name says, it grows up on oak trees.
Lives in
Southern Europe, North Africa and the Near East
Wingspan
8.5 to 12 cm (3.3 to 4.9 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat oak leaves, mostly from oaks with tough, dry leaves like the cork oak.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
✋wings as wide as your hand⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 6.8 seconds
How big is Oak hawkmoth compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
Oak hawkmoth about 56 km/h (35 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The female is a little bigger than the male.
2
Its caterpillars like cork oak, the tree whose bark is used to make bottle corks.
3
It also lives in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
you asked
Most asked questions about Oak hawkmoth
?How big is the oak hawkmoth?
Its wings measure 85 to 125 millimetres from tip to tip.
?What does the oak hawkmoth eat?
Its caterpillars eat oak leaves, especially of cork oak and holm oak.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Marumba quercus
- Named by
- Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Marumba quercus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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