A moth from the hawk moth family

During the “Biodiversity Researcher” programme, members of the Biology Student Association (BIUS) recorded a new species for the area of Krka National Park: a moth from the hawk moth family.

This was the species Smerinthus ocellata (Linnaeus, 1758), the eyed hawk moth.

The eyed hawk moth feeds on the leaves of deciduous species such as willow and poplar. It inhabits deciduous groves, often the edges of streams and rivers where host plants grow, and exhibits a preference for moist habitats. It was documented in the Park in exactly such a habitat, in the vicinity of the Krka Monastery, which is surrounded by floodplain meadows and forests.

This species is more often found in the continental and alpine bio-geographic regions of Croatia, and hence it has been recorded at only ten confirmed sites in the coastal (Mediterranean) region (Koren and Šašić 2023; Biologer; iNaturalist).

Text and photograph: Luce Pavin