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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths (Bombycoidea) » Sphinx Moths (Sphingidae) » Macroglossinae » Macroglossini » Macroglossum » Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Hodges#7883 (Macroglossum stellatarum)
Photo#1360214
Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - Macroglossum stellatarum
Copyright © 2017 Ben Smith

Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - Macroglossum stellatarum
Puente Hills (Whittier or Haceinda Heights), Los Angeles County, California, USA
April 17, 2017
Hummingbird hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) nectaring on wild raddish (Raphanus sativus) in Whittier, CA. Thanks to James Bailey for the ID and Robb Hamilton for passing it along to the right person.

Images of this individual: tag all
Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - Macroglossum stellatarum Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - Macroglossum stellatarum Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) - Macroglossum stellatarum
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Contributed by Ben Smith on 24 April, 2017 - 12:31am
Last updated 16 June, 2017 - 10:33pm

Jean Haxarie
is a great sphinx expert from France, I was mentioning this post to him and he took a look and here is what he said, "What I said on my page is that the moth is fresh, so perfect that for sure it is emerged in California. That's not a migrant!" (Looks like a small breeding population may be established)
… Edna Woodward, 17 August, 2017 - 10:56am login or register to post comments

 
Interesting
He is not wrong, it looks in good condition. It is possible then we will need to consider that a private breeder may have bred and released it, or perhaps it was ship-assisted.

I do see some nicks in the wings, though.
… James Bailey, 17 August, 2017 - 4:06pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Macroglossini.
… James Bailey, 16 June, 2017 - 10:33pm login or register to post comments

What's it doing here?
Is someone releasing them?
… john and jane balaban, 24 April, 2017 - 3:25pm login or register to post comments

 
It's a long distance migrant
Not the first time it has been recorded well out of range. Migrant birds make the "wrong" passage over the oceans not infrequently...this moth is strong enough to make it too. Probably came east over the Atlantic.
… James Bailey, 24 April, 2017 - 6:24pm login or register to post comments

Thanks for posting it here!
… James Bailey, 24 April, 2017 - 10:30am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Arthropods.
… Ben Smith, 24 April, 2017 - 12:56am login or register to post comments

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