The humming
bird hawk
moth
BY KEVIN JIANG
Contents
 What
is a The humming bird hawk moth
 Facts
 Life
cycle
 Adults
 Habitat and host plants
What is a The humming bird
hawk moth

Hummingbird Hawk-moth or sometimes the Hummingmoth,
is a species of Sphingidae. Its long proboscis and its
hovering behaviour, accompanied by an audible
humming noise, make it look remarkably like a
hummingbird while feeding on flowers. It shouldn't be
confused with the moths called hummingbird moths in
North America, genus Hemaris, members of the same
family and with similar appearance and behaviour. The
resemblance to hummingbirds is an example of
convergent evolution. It flies during the day, especially in
bright sunshine, but also at dusk, dawn, and even in the
rain, which is unusual for even diurnal hawkmoths. Its visual
abilities have been much studied, and it has been shown to
have a relatively good ability to learn colours.
Life cycle
The humming bird hawk moth goes
threw 4 stages stage 1 The egg stage
2 The larva stage 3 The pupa stage 4
The Adult.
They go threw the 4 same stages of a
butterfly.
Facts
 The
humming bird hawk moth is also
called Macroglossum stellatarum
 They're found in Britain all summer long,
especially in southern parts and in Ireland.
 Hummingbird hawk-moths beat their
wings at such speed they emit an audible
hum
The egg
Manduca sexta lays its eggs on the
underside of the leaves of its favourite food
plant. The tiny, pale eggs are a little over 1
millimetre in diameter and weigh about 1
milligram. A Manduca adult lays eggs just
once but she typically lays up to 200 of
them
The larva
Larvae, also known as caterpillars, hatch
from their tiny, pale green eggs three to five
days after the eggs are laid. These
"newborn" or first instar larvae are only a few
millimeters long and very pale green, but
that changes quickly. As the larvae get
older and larger they become bright green
with seven pairs of lateral white stripes
bordered with black.
.
The pupa
Over the first few hours, chemical reactions
cause the pale green skin or cuticle of the
new pupa to harden and turn dark brown.
During the three-week pupation period,
tissues are reorganized to form the
structures of the adult Manduca.
The adult
The pupa completes its development in 19 to 23
days and the adult Manduca sexta emerges.
The adult is a large, gray moth with a wingspan
of up to 10 centimeters (4 inches). It has dense
scaling, banded hindwings, and six orangeyellow spots along each side of the abdomen
(hence the scientific name "sexta"). The
proboscis, which first appeared as a
conspicuous "jug-like handle" in the pupa,
becomes a tightly-coiled siphon in the adult.
Habitat and host plants
These moths can be easily seen in gardens, parks,
meadows, bushes and woodland edge, where the
preferred food plants grow (Honeysuckle, Red
Valerian and many others).
Larvae usually feed on bedstraws or madders
(Rubia) but have been recorded on other
Rubiaceae and Centranthus, Stellaria, and
Epilobium.
Adults are particularly fond of nectar-rich flowers
with a long and narrow calyx, since they can then
take advantage of their long proboscis and avoid
competition from other insects. Examples of such
plants include Centranthus,