Theretra alecto (Linnaeus, 1758)

Host plants:
The caterpillars feed on wine leaves (Vitis and Parthenocissus).

Habitat:
Theretra alecto inhabits especially villages and other areas rich in gardens and terraces with wine plants. It also occurs in vineyards provided that these are not poisened to heavily.
In Rhodes I observed larvae especially on Vitis vinifera which grew well sun exposed along roads and fences of private premises or ran wild. If available also ornamental wines (Parthenocissus) are used.

Life cycle:
The pupa hibernates and is tolerant to weak frost. The adults fly in several generations from late April to October. The larva is most common in late summer (August/September), but generally occurs from May to November. Oviposition takes place at the lower side of younger leaves, but occasionally also at the upper side. The eggs are a bit larger than those of Hippotion celerio which can sometimes be observed on the same plants (e.g. Rhodes in September 2013). The larvae live on the lower side of the leaves and rest especially in last instar also on stems. The green larval form is most common, but the caterpillars can also get brownish from the third instar (often only in the last one). This brownish form is obviously a bit more frequent on Parthenocissus and occurs as usual increasedly while rearing under dark and crowded conditions.
Pupation takes place in a loose webbing in the litter.

Endangerment factors:
Theretra alecto is not endangered in most regions despite high poison rates in wine agriculture because it has well adopted to human settlements. E.g. in Rhodes the moth is quite common.

Remarks:
In Europe Theretra alecto occurs only in the southern Balkans in southwest Bulgaria and especially in Greece with main focus in the Aegean islands. Furthermore Theretra alecto is observed from Egypt and Turkey across more southern parts of Asia to India, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Vagrants have been also recorded on Sicily and in Romania.