It’s a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)!
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| Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) |
The above photo is what flew past me and it really did seem like a hummingbird. I thought I was seeing things. Greyish above but with this blur of orange from the underwings. I was lucky to get a shot of it at all in flight but it did hover just long enough to get a semi-focused shot. I followed it to the rocks which had a thick coating of lichen where it landed.
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| Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) |
As you can see it blends in perfectly with the lichen and so I had to be careful not to take my eyes off it for fear of losing where it was. Even raising the camera to my eyes I had to be careful not to lose sight. Below you can see a close crop of this beautiful moth.
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| Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) |
As I mentioned in my previous entry (I’m busy today am I not? I just happen to have found so many wonderful new creatures) the wonder of camouflage really is the artistic dark side of nature. Many butterflies love to show off their colours and for that reason people love them and are not afraid of them. A moth is really a type of butterfly, but due to their association with the dark and the night, people think differently of them. Like bats. I can’t wait to find more.
Come over to the dark side and find hidden moths in La Mancha, Spain with Oretani Wildlife.
