Flying visit Rare hummingbird moth makes garden appearance
jessica.mercer@reachplc.com
ARARE species of moth has been spotted fluttering in a Gloucestershire woman’s garden. Diane Hall, from Tewkesbury, found the hummingbird hawkmoth in her garden on Sunday afternoon, but was unsure what it was when she first saw it.
She said: “I was enjoying the afternoon sun with a cup of tea when I first noticed it.
“I was not sure if it was a dragonfly at first.
“It kept flying out of the garden, on and off, for a good ten minutes and then came back and was settling on the flower in the video.”
Diane said that she didn’t know what the colourful insect was until she put the video up on social media and several insect experts gave their thoughts.
She said: “I hadn’t seen anything like this before so decided to video it and ask on Facebook if people knew what species it was.
“It turns out by the responses that it’s a hummingbird moth!”
The hummingbird hawkmoth is described by the RSPB as “a day-flying moth with a wingspan of about two inches.
It has a brown, white-spotted abdomen, brown forewings and orange hindwings.
“The wings beat so rapidly that they produce an audible hum and can be seen only as a haze,” says the RSPB.
“The darting movement from one flower to the next with the long proboscis uncoiled completes the illusion of a hummingbird.
“Another day-flying moth, the Silver Y, is often confused with the hummingbird hawkmoth, but is smaller and darker.
“The hummingbird hawkmoth is abundant and resident all around Mediterranean countries, and across Central Asia to Japan.”
While it came as a surprise to Diane to see the unusual species, their presence in the UK is not entirely unheard of.
The RSPB says: “The late summer peak in UK numbers is largely the result of emergence of locally raised moths.
“Even though the moths successfully breed in the UK, they are not able to survive the winter (in mild winters, small numbers may overwinter).
“Therefore, the continuing presence of this remarkable moth is dependent on the annual influx from southern France.”
It kept flying out of the garden, for a good ten minutes and then came back and was settling on the flower Diane Hall