A really beautiful hawk moth that flies by day, hovers like a bird and regularly migrates. Not a threatened species, but well-worth encouraging!
Macroglossum stellatarum (the Hummingbird Hawk moth) is unusual in that he can hover and flies during the day. He migrates from his stronghold in the south every summer, when he can be seen all over Europe. The larvae seem to prefer ‘bedstraws’ and the adults will drink nectar from a wide variety of flowers. (You can see images of all stages of the life-cycle here.).
The adult Hummingbird Hawk moth sets up a routine for his normal daily feeding and seems to fly his ‘circuit’ by the clock, so if you see one on such-and-such a flower at 11.00 one morning he will be there again tomorrow and the next day etc.. This makes him very easy to watch once you have first located him.
I saw my first Hummingbird Hawk moth several years ago one summer in the Auvergne (France). The sun was very bright and I noticed iridescent dartings around a huge lavender bush. Definitely hummingbirds I thought, and a quick jog through the memory banks revealed that they shouldn't be there in France. A new discovery! Creeping a bit closer he seemed to get smaller, and trying to go even nearer he simply vanished. “Quel domage” I thought “I will never see him again, and no-one will ever believe my new sighting!" (I soon realised they were all over France.)
Hummingbird Hawk moths regularly visit my lavender bush (planted specially for them) just outside my window in Villenueve de Duras (SW France). Their regular daily routine makes them easy to see, but I have found them impossible to photograph (others have had more success! Look here or here). None of the Nature Guides do them justice, and they are well worth the effort of lying in the sun sipping wine near a lavender bush! Keep your eyes open for small (2 cm max) furry - yes furry - little bird-shaped bodies darting and hovering around lavender in bright sunshine. Get close enough and you will be able to make out a long tongue probing the flowers and a blur of wings encasing a subdued iridescence.
I intend to plant some Lady’s Bedstraw in Villenueve this year because it smells so nice and I will be able to watch the caterpillars as well as the adults!
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