It 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.
I like This
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
I also haqve to agree that these are way out of there habitat. I found one on my porch and I live in Kentucky.
Are you sure you didn’t see a Pandorus Sphinx? It is a native species for you and the colors are similar to a Lime Hawkmoth.
The huge moth that hung on our screen door yesterday for a few hours was exactly like the one the man saw at the gas station. The amazing thing was that he was so naturally cammo
colored. I took pics on my cell phone but have no idea of how to transfer it to the computer! His head looked like the British airplane looked head-on. Looking down it looked like he had horns on the back of his wings. Never saw anything like it.
Easton, MD USA
We believe you most likely encountered a Pandorus Sphinx, not a Lime Hawkmoth which is a European species. Though we once posted an image of a Lime Hawkmoth from Pennsylvania, we have never substantiated another North American sighting. You can submit an image by using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.