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Macroglossum stellatarum
Macroglossum stellatarum, known as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth or sometimes the Hummingmoth, is a species of Sphingidae. Its long proboscis and its hovering behaviour, accompanied by an audible humming noise, make it look remarkably like a hummingbird while feeding on flowers. It shouldn't be confused with the moths called hummingbird moths in North America, genus Hemaris, members of the same family and with similar appearance and behavior. 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. The forewings are brown, with black wavy lines across them, and the hindwings are orange with a black edge. The abdomen is quite broad, with a fan-tail of setae at the end. The wingspan is 40–45 millimetres (1.6–1.8 in). In the southern parts of its range, the Hummingbird Hawk-moth is highly active even when temperatures are high, and thoracic temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F) have been measured.[1] This is among the highest recorded for hawk-moths, and near the limit for insect muscle activity Moths in the Hemaris genus of the family Sphingidae are known as "hummingbird moths" in the US, and "bee moths" in Europe, which sometimes causes confusion between this species and the North American genus.
These moths can be easily seen in gardens, parks, meadows, bushes and woodland edge, where the preferred food plants grow (Honeysuckle, Red Valerian and many others). The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is distributed throughout the northern Old World from Portugal to Japan, but is resident only in warmer climates (southern Europe, North Africa, and points east). It is a strong flier, dispersing widely and can be found virtually anywhere in the hemisphere in the summer. However it rarely survives the winter in northern latitudes (e.g. north of the Alps in Europe, north of the Caucasus in Russia).
Maybe this is a moth... It darted round the flowers, wings flapping very fast, and drank the nectar from the flowers from a long distance away.
I agree with Daniele. It is probably the angle. Photos can be excellent but still deceive and confuse just because they are a photo. The colors and shapes we see in reality are just not all there in a photo. I am still learning how to identify with this flat, not moving, image called photo. We have all learned a lot on this journey.
@daniele, gator, Dana, do you think photo 4 might be a different species? It's tail is narrower and I don't see the side tuffs, though it may be just the angle...
@daniele, Oh, beautiful spotting! 1/8000!!! Impossible for my point and shoot! But at least it took enough detail that it could be identified. Amazing creatures, they look just like mini hummingbirds...
@gator, Dana... continuing the conversation on this moth, here...
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/...
Many, many thanks. All 3 of us have learnt a lot I think!
Hummingbird hawkmoth, I would say. Looks like one I took a photo of last week but have yet to upload to PN. gatorfellows has the ID right, I just know it by a different name. :)
Hi again; http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/126...... does look like a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk and there is a Hemaris fuciformis in Europe along with some others. There is even one in H. Croatia that may be the one Ursula referred to knowing. Here is the best resource I can find for the different Hemaris species (starting with the H. fuciformis) and where they are in Europe. Some have small ranges, so it will probably be a process of elimination; but the site also give descriptions and photos of different forms. http://tpittaway.tripod.com/sphinx/h_fuc...
Here is the main list page for Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic: http://tpittaway.tripod.com/sphinx/
I am learning as I research; hope this resource helps.
Dana, did you look at the other photo I found?
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/126...
Would you mind to put the ID here for me?
found another photo... took #5, made a new entry and added the new photo. They look like the ones you ID'd Dana.
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/126...
And the remaining ones here are more like the ones gator ID'd. Thank you to the both of you for all your help!
Macroglossum stellatarum was just a good guess because of evenly dark back and light grey face and underbelly. It is in that genus and the species may have to stay a mystery. Hemaris is only in North America.
Dana, they were in the wild. Many butterflies, moths and insects in general feasting on a magnificant buddlia bush in Sougraigne, Southern France. it was outside the hotel where I was staying, and I visited it many times a day! There were so many of them everywhere, impossible to count!
I have checked out all the suggestions, but from my photos it is difficult to tell because they are very unclear - it was moving too fast for my camera! I can't check it because i have moved on from where I spotted it, but from what i remember, it looked a lot like the first photo here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossu...
I think the body was more grey than in this one...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemaris_dif...
but I think there may be 2 different moths here. Photos 2 & 5, and 1, 3, 4 & 6. That would explain the confusion in the ID.
Here is the Wikipedia species list; but it is not all that complete with photos or maps; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossu...
Perhaps someone in your area will have a species suggestion; but at least you have a genus.
Hi again; sorry my first comment was not clear. Just back from vacation and not up to speed. It is a clearwing hawkmoth Family Sphingidae; Genus Macroglossum; again I cannot tell the species from the photos. They are called Bee Moths in Europe and should not be confused with the moths called hummingbird moths in North America, genus Hemaris, members of the same family and with similar appearance and behavior. I am sending you a suggestion for one that it MIGHT be.
I would call it Hawksmoth instead of Clearwing because the wings are not clear.
This is Hummingbird Moth, at least that's what we call them here. I love these animals! Nice spotting :)
This is a Hawk Moth, Sphingidae; but I do not know the species for the area you spotted the moth. They are never very still, so getting a detailed photo is difficult. A very nice under belly shot.
Spotted on Jul 19, 2012
Submitted on Jul 21, 2012
