The summer of the hummer

People are being urged to watch their gardens this summer, to see if a visually striking moth is attempting to colonise the UK.

The hummingbird hawk-moth – whose wings beat 80 times a second, letting it hover like its namesake over flowers – usually visits in the summer before returning to the continent.

But in recent years the warming climate has seen the brown and orange insect successfully spend the winter in greenhouses and sheltered spots in south-west England, according to the charity Butterfly Conservation.

Helpfully, there are two incentives for the public to keep an eye out for the blurry-winged visitors.

Firstly, the moth has long been considered a good omen, with a swarm of them spotted over the English Channel on D-Day, in 1944.

Secondly, unlike most species, the moths are active in daylight hours, so at least no-one will lose any sleep.