Wide-Horned Scarab vs Five-Spotted Hawk Moth

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Wide-Horned Scarab Five-Spotted Hawk Moth
Scientific Name Euoniticellus intermedius Manduca quinquemaculata
Order Coleoptera Lepidoptera
Family Scarabaeidae Sphingidae
Size 6-10 mm 95-130 mm wingspan
Habitat Farmland Farmland
Diet Dung Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Africa, introduced to Australia, North America, South America Throughout North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Wide-Horned Scarab

A small, yellow-brown tunneling dung beetle with dark markings on the pronotum. Males have two short broad horns. It is one of the most successful introduced dung beetles in Australia and the Americas.

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Did You Know?

Since its introduction, this small beetle has saved Australian ranchers millions of dollars by rapidly burying cattle dung.

Five-Spotted Hawk Moth

A large mottled gray moth whose caterpillar is the familiar tomato hornworm with a distinctive black horn. The adult has five pairs of yellow-orange spots on its abdomen.

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Did You Know?

Its caterpillar is frequently confused with the tobacco hornworm but can be distinguished by its V-shaped white markings instead of diagonal stripes.