Post by nomad on Jun 15, 2013 5:38:58 GMT -8
Hawks moths have always held an interest for me and I believe are still popular with collectors. I once bred Deaths Head Hawk Moths [Acherontia atropos] with their giant caterpillars feeding on privet in my breeding cages. Then there were the times looking into the M.V. moth trap to find such beauties as Eyed Hawk Moths [Smerinthus ocellata], Poplar Hawk Moths [Laothoe populi] and Elephant Hawk Moths [Deilephila elenor]. I used to have a mass of honeysuckle in my garden and used to love to watch the Elephant Hawks Moths as they visited the wonderful scented flowers with their long proboscis. In open grassland in a large woodland I well remember the delight of finding the very stunning Small Elephant Hawk moths [Deilephila porcellus] in my moth trap. Humming-bird Hawk Moths[ Macroglossum stellatarum] were a very rare visitors to where I lived but at least I managed to see them. However the two British species of Bee-Hawk Moths always eluded me until recently. If they were to be found in my home county or the neighbouring counties they were not common because I used to spend countless hours of long summer days in the woods, fields and downs, wherever I could get to, to collect insects and I never saw the two remarkable Bee-Hawk Moths in spite of often sitting patiently by nectar sources such as Bugle which will attract these insects.
Visiting the Norfolk Broads last year I was engaged in photographing Swallowtail butterflies [Papilio machaon britannicus] when a person from a nearby holiday cottage, who previously had come across to discuss with interest what I was doing, asked if I could come into his garden to have a look at a large strange Bee than was hovering over his bed of Valerian plants. Arriving I found his large family and friends assembled around the Valerian to view the strange Bee. They were most surprised to find it was not a bee but an uncommon moth, in fact a lovely day-flying Broad-bordered Bee-hawk moth [Hemaris fuciformis]. These moths rarely stay at a nectar source for long and move at high speed. Fumbling with my camera to adjust the shutter speed, I manged to get a few decent images.
A Broad-bordered-Bee-Hawk moth [Hemaris fuciformis] at Valerian in the Norfolk Broads.
Recently, when I was on holiday in Scotland, I visited a large open hilly common that was intersected with boggy valleys. I had come here to look for fritillary butterflies . I found a boggy and grassy knoll with a adjacent copse and was delighted to find a number of the nationally scarce Narrow-Broadered Bee-Hawk Moths [Hemaris tityus]. I managed to observe and photograph them over several hours. One of my best lepidoptera moments. They flew at high speed and did indeed look like large bees as they sought nectar at flowers. I found it very difficult to get good images as they moved quickly among the flowers. I also saw ovapositing females on their foodplant the Devil's Bit Scabious [ Succisa pratensis], when in bloom it is one of my favourite late summer flowers with its globular blue heads. This plant is also the foodplant of the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly [Euphydryas aurinia] and which I had come here to see. Sometimes the Marsh Fritillary males, who can also fly at high speed, would chase the feeding Bee-Hawk moths.
Narrow Broad Bee- Hawk Moth [ Hemaris tityus] in Scotland.
feeding at Bluebell.
Taking nectar at Lousewort.
Female egg-laying on Devil's Bit Scabious.
I believe there is another very beautiful Bee Hawk in Europe, Hemaris croatica which is found in Central Europe, Italy, Greece to Russia. I have read there are 17 species worldwide with a number that are found North America, North Africa and Asia. I should be pleased to hear of other members observations of the species mentioned in this thread or of other species they have encountered or specimens they have to show.
Visiting the Norfolk Broads last year I was engaged in photographing Swallowtail butterflies [Papilio machaon britannicus] when a person from a nearby holiday cottage, who previously had come across to discuss with interest what I was doing, asked if I could come into his garden to have a look at a large strange Bee than was hovering over his bed of Valerian plants. Arriving I found his large family and friends assembled around the Valerian to view the strange Bee. They were most surprised to find it was not a bee but an uncommon moth, in fact a lovely day-flying Broad-bordered Bee-hawk moth [Hemaris fuciformis]. These moths rarely stay at a nectar source for long and move at high speed. Fumbling with my camera to adjust the shutter speed, I manged to get a few decent images.
A Broad-bordered-Bee-Hawk moth [Hemaris fuciformis] at Valerian in the Norfolk Broads.
Recently, when I was on holiday in Scotland, I visited a large open hilly common that was intersected with boggy valleys. I had come here to look for fritillary butterflies . I found a boggy and grassy knoll with a adjacent copse and was delighted to find a number of the nationally scarce Narrow-Broadered Bee-Hawk Moths [Hemaris tityus]. I managed to observe and photograph them over several hours. One of my best lepidoptera moments. They flew at high speed and did indeed look like large bees as they sought nectar at flowers. I found it very difficult to get good images as they moved quickly among the flowers. I also saw ovapositing females on their foodplant the Devil's Bit Scabious [ Succisa pratensis], when in bloom it is one of my favourite late summer flowers with its globular blue heads. This plant is also the foodplant of the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly [Euphydryas aurinia] and which I had come here to see. Sometimes the Marsh Fritillary males, who can also fly at high speed, would chase the feeding Bee-Hawk moths.
Narrow Broad Bee- Hawk Moth [ Hemaris tityus] in Scotland.
feeding at Bluebell.
Taking nectar at Lousewort.
Female egg-laying on Devil's Bit Scabious.
I believe there is another very beautiful Bee Hawk in Europe, Hemaris croatica which is found in Central Europe, Italy, Greece to Russia. I have read there are 17 species worldwide with a number that are found North America, North Africa and Asia. I should be pleased to hear of other members observations of the species mentioned in this thread or of other species they have encountered or specimens they have to show.
