Rethera brandti

Rethera brandti, the lesser madder hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Otto Bang-Haas in 1937. It is found from south-eastern Turkey and north-eastern Iraq to southern Iran along the Zagros Mountains and then into western Pakistan.

Lesser madder hawkmoth
Rethera brandti brandti
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Rethera
Species:	R. brandti
Binomial name
Rethera brandti O. Bang-Haas, 1937[1]

The wingspan is 40–46 mm. Adults of ssp. brandti are on from April mid-May in one generation per year. Adults of ssp. euteles are on wing from late March to mid-May depending on the altitude in one or two generations per year.

The larvae probably feed on Galium species.

Subspecies

• Rethera brandti brandti (Alborz and Kopet Dag Mountains of northern Iran)^[2]
• Rethera brandti euteles Jordan, 1937 (south-eastern Turkey and north-eastern Iraq to southern Iran along the Zagros Mountains and then into western Pakistan)^[3]