Silkmoths and more: Deilephila askoldensis

Deilephila askoldensis, the less well-known fourth member of the Deilephila genus from east Asia, behaves in captivity not much different from the related elephant hawk moths (D. elpenor and porcellus). Like porcellus they are quite easy to rear in well ventilated plastic containers on pretty much all Galium species, including Galium aparine which is not nearly as useless as many of you think. The only problem with cleavers or stickyweed is that the hairs on the leaves are actually mini hooks. So never force a caterpillar of these plants as they will tear apart their skin. Let them walk of on their own. If you keep this in mind Galium aparine can be used for most species feeding upon bedstraw and for many people in Western Europe this plant is probably much easier to find then other bedstraw species. But you could also use Epilobium and even Vitis species (but not other members of the grape family, like for example Parthenocissus, that does not work, yep tried that, they didn't even nibble of the leaves). In all other aspects (size, growth rate, ...) they develop in the same way as porcellus.