Subject: Where was Death's-head Hawk-moth (A. atropos), before potato came to Europe?

From: [email-masked] (Markku Savela)
Date: 27 Jul 1996 18:56:28 GMT

In my books the only food plant mentioned for the Death's-head
Hawk-moth is Potato (Solanum tuberosum).

Is A. atropos actually foreign imported (from America) species in
Europe or what did it eat before 1500 (and if so, why doesn't it eat
that any more?)

(I was recently confronted with this question, and couldn't answer it)

--
Markku Savela ([email-masked]),     Technical Research Centre of Finland
Multimedia Systems, P.O.Box 1203,FIN-02044 VTT,http://www.vtt.fi/tte/staff/msa/

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From: Per Stadel Nielsen <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 13:32:59 -0700

> (I was recently confronted with this question, and couldn't answer it)

Yes, atropos was surely resident before the potatoe came to Europe. 
Atropos is actually polyphagous on a large number of bushes and herbs 
f.i. Buddleya, Ligustrum, Nicotiana glauca, Solanum all ssp., Olea, 
Fraxinus, Nerium etc. My expirience is however, that atropos is strongly 
attracted to Solanum species for egglaying. On the Canary Islands I found 
lots of eggs on a huge Solanum tree introduced from South America.
So potatoe is just a convinient foodplant, as it is so widespread. 
By the way, atropos is not really a European species, but belong to the 
African region, with resident populations only in North Africa, Canary 
Islands and southernmost parts of Spain, Italy and Turkey.
See also A.R. Pittaway, 1993: The Hawkmoths of the Western Palaearctic.

P. Stadel Nielsen, DK