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Bee Hawk Moth from Australia

Posted by January 10th, 2009 at 11:22 pm

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Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths

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Moth with clear wings and colourful body
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Please can you tell me what this bug is? It flew into the house, struggling under it’s own weight! The body is over 3 cm long but including antennae it’s over 4 cm in length. It’s bottom goes feathery and flares out when it is flying. It is also quite loud in flight. My son insists that it isn’t, but I am placing my bet on ‘moth’.
Ann H
Artarmon, NSW Australia

bee hawk moth australia ann 230x300 Bee Hawk Moth from Australia

Bee Hawk Moth

Hi Ann,
Your son is correct.  This is a Bee Hawk Moth, Cephonodes kingii.  We identified it on the Brisbane Insect Website.  An Australian Caterpillar Website has images of the entire metamorphosis and identifies it as the Gardenia Hawk Moth because the caterpillar feeds on gardenia.

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