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Ancestor: Hyles lineata (White-lined Spinx Moth)

Size of Caterpillar:  0.5cm (hatched),  7-9 cm (pre-pupa)

Wingspan/Body Length of Adult: 11cm / 5cm (male), 14cm / 7cm (female)

Dietary Needs: As caterpillars they munch on the leaves of various elderberry shrubs and trees. Some birdmoths are more generalist and can consume different species of elderberry leaves. Others are more species specific, and need one particular kind of elderberry tree.

Adult moths are nectarivores that can tolerate a wide range of nectars. This includes experimentation with nectars they are unfamiliar with. Usual flower nectar sources are descendants of catnip, wild cabbage and some bromeliads. They also drink up damaged tissue of soft mushy fruit such as fruit from the descendants of elderberries, mulberries and maize,  at the peak of ripeness before it rots. Fruit is often only a seasonal opportunity.

Life Cycle: Pregnant female moths lay their eggs over several elderberry plant leaves. Keeping them spread out increases the chance that some will survive, in part because not all leaves will survive until the caterpillars are mature. Some leaves may also have competing caterpillars which may be hostile or out-eat the birdmoth caterpillars, so it's advantageous if some of the eggs end up on a leaf all to themselves. It also keeps them from competing too much with each other during the earliest stages of their growth, which could slow their growth.

Newly hatched caterpillars eat voraciously and grow rapidly, munching bites out of the leaves until they are stripped down to a leaf vein skeleton before moving to the next one. Once the caterpillar has grown fat and plump, with a greater weight than the adults, will they pupate. Over their pupation they will not eat and will lose some weight over their metamorphosis, so this is why they must be so well fed before they pupate.

These caterpillars  migrate into the soil of their home tree, or a suitably dark and warm place protected from the worst of heat or cold. They become stiff and lethargic before shedding into their next form, the pupa, which cannot move and is entirely confined within the carapace. Inside this carapace the moth liquefies in a very delicate but controlled manner, keeping only certain vital structures intact, so that it can rearrange into the form of the moth.

An adult moth emerges from the pupa with it's wings shrunken and collapsed. It needs to spend time pumping air into it's wings before it can use them for the first time to fly, which is a time of vulnerability for them.

Adults can be active at any time of day or night, but are most commonly seen at dawn and sunset. This moth is much more likely to chance daytime feeds, but males usually seek mates under the cover of darkness.

Other: This moth's range more or less overlaps all of the bee-eating sparrow's far Western range, and being diurnal moths they are daytime targets of these birds as prey. Many bee-eater mimics are eaten by the bee-eaters. Over this moth's evolutionary history, moths that were accidentally mistaken for another bird survived, while those that were more visually obvious as being moths were eliminated. A larger size, slimmer sweeping-tipped wings and colours mimicking that of the bee-eating sparrow were favourable adaptations to appearing more like the birds, even if they come at the cost of needing more energy and being less efficient at hovering. These moths also employ a soaring, swooping type of flight when flying (except when feeding, where they will still hover or land if the flower is large and sturdy enough). The soaring and swooping is similar to when bee-eaters are chasing insects in flight.

Although widely active at day, their peak activity is morning and evening, and they sometimes use night to travel or migrate.

Winter is not usually severe on Catland but caterpillars may sometimes need to huddle in sheltered places for several weeks at a time if the weather turns bad, keeping from freezing with their collective body heat. Some trees lose their leaves, more so further South, which makes the caterpillars more competitive for what remains. In such cold places population is always lowest in winter, especially since the cold kills the adults quickly. 

Dry seasons can be much more severe on Catland, affecting most of the warmer habitable biomes. It is then that the adults are more likely to survive than the caterpillars, with greater mobility to source water, and larger bodies to retain it. The dry season survivors are more of a mixture of caterpillars and adults, rather than all caterpillars.

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