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Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk MothsIt looks like a fighter plane
Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 12:55 AM
this was spotted in london last night whilst filling my car with fuel. it looks like a mini stealth fighter plane with a thick scorpion like stinger on its back. it wasnt bothered by me being there and remained totally still.
very creepy, never seen anything as aggressive looking as this, it had defined camouflage patterns and a a streamlined look.
what is it, how rare is it? should i have put it in a jar and kept it?
David
London, England
Lime Hawk Moth
Hi David,
This is a Lime Hawkmoth, Mimas tiliae, and according to the UKMoths Website it is: “A reasonably common species in the southern half of Britain, it was most frequent in the London area, where there are still extensive tree-lined avenues. In recent years its distribution has spread northwards and is now regularly found well into North Yorkshire and beyond. “ The larvae, which are known as Hornworms, feed on lime, alder, birch and elm tree leaves. We do not believe you should have put it in a jar and kept it. Though we are not opposed to keeping insects in jars long enough to observe them, we believe they are best when left in the wild. We have had other members of the Sphinx or Hawk Moth family Sphingidae referred to as stealth bombers because of their appearance.
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Comments 1
England huh? Well I think their habitat has expanded a little bit haha! See this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmunka/LimeHawkMoth?feat=directlink
This was taken in Springfield Oregon, USA on June 21-22 2009
Posted 22 Jun 2009 at 12:55 pm ¶Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.
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