The hummingbird moth that is commonly mistaken for a hummingbird:
The Hummingbird moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a species of hawk moth with a long proboscis, and is capable of hovering in place, making an audible humming noise. These two features make it look remarkably like a hummingbird when it feeds on flowers. The forewings of the hummingbird moth are brown and the hind wings are orange. The wingspan is 50-58 mm.
The adult hummingbird moth may be encountered at any time of the year, especially in the south of the range and two or more broods are produced each year. They fly during the day, especially in bright sunshine. The larva is green with two stripes along the sides and the horn at the rear end typical of sphingids. The hummingbird moth usually feeds on bedstraws and madders but has been recorded on other plants including Aster,Centaurea, Petunia, Phlox, Sage and various thistles.
| Hummingbird hawk moth | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Photo taken by Mintguy
Author grants permission to use under GFDL.
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Macroglossum stellatarum Linnaeus, 1758 |
Hummingbird Moth Video
Hummingbird moth and a hummingbird on the same butterfly bush
Click on the play button below to see video of a Hummingbird moth
Photo taken by YummifruitbatThis file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
