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Hummingbird Hawkmoth in Asda, Falmouth ...? (1 Viewer)

dantheman

Bah humbug
This afternoon in the womenswear department of our local Asda I watched a Hawkmoth flying around for a good couple of minutes. It was above me most of the time, hence a little uncertainty over the id, as well as it being in a supermarket. But it appeared to be this species on size, greyish brown forewings/back and bright rusty brown back wings. (I've seen a few before, so do know them reasonably well ...) It had its long black proboscis extended much of the time.

It was flying around a (fluorescent?) light fitting about 10' up most of the time, scooting up to the high ceiling at times and then back down again. Thinking about it, this surprised me somewhat, would a day-flying moth still be attracted to lights? (What are the chances it could have been a superficially similar exotic night-flying species imported in with some foreign produce??)

I lost it when it went up to the ceiling and possibly rested up on the backside of a beam or similar.

I see from Skinner that they overwinter as adults, but rarely, if ever, in Britain ...




Any similar occurences anyone knows of?


Cheers, Dan
 
;) ... Thinking about it, we had a couple of caterpillars in a bag of frozen peas about twenty years back, don't know which store ... worryingly we'd already eaten half the packet, but probably all just extra protein ...

Anyway, googled the appropriate phrase, seems totally feasible (H Hawk Moth, not that it grew up in the salad dept) as there are a few records and suspected of overwintering on occasion. Can fly at night, as well as dusk and dawn, so as likely to get confused around lights as any nocturnal moth I guess ...
 
Hi Dan

There have been more instances of it overwintering in recent years.

I've been told of one under the roof of a railway platform in Plymouth a couple of years ago.

There are papers mentioning it over-wintering in Atropos 3 Pages 52-53 (July 1997) and on the Isles of Scilly in Atropos 4 Pages 72-73 (January 1998) and there's another paper in Entomologist's Gazette 35 Page 224 (1984).

Hope this helps

Martin
 
I see from Skinner that they overwinter as adults, but rarely, if ever, in Britain ...

Any similar occurences anyone knows of?



Humming-bird Hawk-moths have been overwintering in the Luxulyan Valley for a number of years.

John
Cornwall Butterfly Recorder
 
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