Wonderous Hummingbird Hawk Moth (macro photography)

I had the great fortune to find a few Hummingbird Hawk Moths Macroglossum pyrrhosticta feeding on the Cosmos flowers this weekend.

These swift moths are found worldwide, though this specimen was photographed in Japan. They are a great example of how convergent evolution works: like their namesake the hummingbird, these moths have been shaped by their feeding strategy: feeding on energy rich nectar from flowers. Most flowers produce nectar during the day, cosmos certainly do, so they need to be fast to avoid being eaten by birds and other predators, hovering minimises the time at each flower, a long proboscis to reach the flower is needed as they can't get too close or the wings will hit the blossom.

They even have a kind of flared tail that they position to help with flight control:

When not flying, this moth folds its wings and arches the abdomen, like magic it now appears as a dry crumpled leaf, and yes, this is the same species!

This one was overwintering on what I assume it though was some tree bark, rather than peeling paint. I later gently relocated it to a tree upon which it was much better camouflaged.

It's quite remarkable that a bird and an insect, very different forms of animal life and through different ancestries have arrived at such a similar body shape and feeding strategy!


I hope you've enjoyed the post and are having a good day!

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