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Hummingbird Hawk-moth; Esfinge colibrí

Macroglossum stellatarum

Description:

Hummingbird Hawk-moth with almond tree flowers. Its long proboscis and its hovering behaviour, accompanied by an audible humming noise, make it look remarkably like a hummingbird while feeding on flowers. The resemblance to hummingbirds is an example of convergent evolution. It flies during the day, especially in bright sunshine, but also at dusk, dawn, and even in the rain, which is unusual for even diurnal hawkmoths. Its visual abilities have been much studied, and it has been shown to have a relatively good ability to learn colours.

Habitat:

Blooming almond tree. Holm oak and pine tree forest

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/250 sec.; f/20; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias:0 EV. Focal Length: 300.0 mm. Flash fired

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12 Comments

arlanda
arlanda 10 years ago

Thanks Mark

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Fantastic shots arlanda. Great series.

arlanda
arlanda 10 years ago

Gracias Marta!

The MnMs
The MnMs 10 years ago

¡Que encuentro mas bonito!

arlanda
arlanda 10 years ago

Thanks Cris!

arlanda
arlanda 10 years ago

Thanks Neil

Cris
Cris 10 years ago

That charm!

arlanda
arlanda 10 years ago

Gracias Patricia. Se puede decir que el tendí una emboscada. Un almendro solitario, sus primeras flores, ... Pensé que se pasarían por ahí para quitarse el hambre del invierno, había cuatro o cinco revoloteando

PatriciaPi
PatriciaPi 10 years ago

me encantan! mira que es dificil hacerles fotos...enhorabuena

arlanda
arlanda 10 years ago

Thanks Bernadette

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 10 years ago

Wow! That is quite amazing. A beautiful spotting of this most unusual moth. Very nice.

Bernadette S
Bernadette S 10 years ago

Lovely series!

arlanda
Spotted by
arlanda

Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Spotted on Mar 7, 2014
Submitted on Mar 19, 2014

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