Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

             Scientific name: Macroglossum stellatarum

Wingspan 40-50 mm

Resembles a hummingbird as it flies rapidly between plants and hovers to feed over tubular flowers such as Viper's-bugloss (Echium vulgare), during the day.

Similar to Bee hawk moths in flight but the Humming-bird Hawk-moth has orange-brown hindwings which is evident in flight. It has forewings that are greyish-brown and a black and white chequered body.
Size and Family

    Family – Hawk-moths (Sphingidae)
    Medium / Large Sized 
    Wing Span Range (male to female) - 50-58mm

Conservation status

    Immigrant; Suspected resident

Caterpillar Description

Larva mainly June-October, most frequently found in August. Hibernates as an adult in unheated outbuildings and in crevices and holes in walls and trees. Pupates in a cocoon spun close to the ground, among the foliage of the foodplant or in leaf litter.
Particular Caterpillar Food Plants

Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum), Hedge Bedstraw (Galium album) and Wild Madder (Rubia peregrina). Also seen laying eggs on Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber).
Distribution

    Countries – England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland
    Immigrant from Southern Europe and North Africa. Widespread throught UK. Most numerous in Southern and Eastern England, South Wales and the Midlands & south Ireland
    Distribution Trend Since 1970’s = Britain: Stable

Habitat

Found in many habitats from coastal areas to gardens, woodland rides and urban areas.
   

Taken on: July 25, 2015

Tags:

Macroglossum

stellatarum

Humming-bird

Hawk-moth

Humming-bird-Hawk-moth

Viper's-bugloss

Echium

vulgare

Echium-vulgare

Sphingidae

Invertebrates

Butterflies-moths

Migrant « less

Sets appears in: • An Insect Collection • Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

Groups appears in: • Lepidoptera • Moth Mania more » • British Lepidoptera • Beautiful Bugs • Butterflies and Moths of Great Britain & Ireland • Ireland's Wildlife • UK Butterflies, Moths and Caterpillars • National Moth Week • Irish Invertebrates « less

Stats: 442 views

close tools panel

Badge creator

Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.

You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.

Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page

Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.

Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:

Embed on your Web site

To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:

Black background (preview):

White background (preview):

Firefox and Chrome addons

Adds a 'Flickriver' button to your browser. While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on this button to open the same view on Flickriver.

Install in Firefox
Install in Chrome

Search plugin

Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer. Install search plugin

"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script

A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.

Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.

Install "View on Flickriver" script

Bookmarklet

While viewing any Flickr photos page, click on the bookmarklet to open the same view on Flickriver.

To install: drag and drop the following link to your Bookmarks toolbar.
IE users - add the link to your Favorites under the Links folder