Photos: Earth >> Europe >> Italy >> Umbria >> Perugia >> Trevi

Register

  << Previous Next >>

Macroglossum stellatarum


Macroglossum stellatarum
Photo Information
Copyright: Roberto Innocenzi (cobra112) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2093 W: 75 N: 6382] (43366)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2013-08-08
Categories: Insects
Camera: Nikon D300s, Sigma 105mm 1:2.8 EX DG Macro
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2014-01-01 12:02
Viewed: 1641
Points: 34
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Sphingidae

Genus: Macroglossum

Species: M. stellatarum

Macroglossum stellatarum, known as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth, 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 behavior. 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. The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is distributed throughout the northern Old World from Portugal to Japan, but is resident only in warmer climates (southern Europe, North Africa, and points east). It is a strong flier, dispersing widely and can be found virtually anywhere in the hemisphere in the summer. However it rarely survives the winter in northern latitudes (e.g. north of the Alps in Europe, north of the Caucasus in Russia). Moths in the Hemaris genus of the family Sphingidae are known as "hummingbird moths" in the US, and "bee moths" in Europe, which sometimes causes confusion between this species and the North American genus.

La sfinge del galio (Macroglossum stellatarum LINNAEUS, 1758) è un insetto dell'ordine dei Lepidotteri, conosciuto anche col nome farfalla sfinge o sfinge colibrì. Le ali anteriori sono grigie con bande sottili e scure mentre quelle posteriori sono arancioni. Con un'apertura alare di circa 50 mm è tra le sfingidi più piccole. Il ciuffo di peli caratteristico bianco e nero al fondo dell'addome, serve come timone per stabilizzare il volo. Ha abitudini diurne e crepuscolari. Vola nei mesi caldi dell'anno e si posa solo per riposare dopo il crepuscolo, ben nascosta dalla vegetazione, coprendo con le ali anteriori le posteriori e lasciando scoperto l'addome. Può svernare nelle abitazioni.
Questo Sphingidae passa con estrema rapidità da un fiore all'altro senza mai posarsi: resta in volo librato su di essi per pochi secondi (da 3 a 10 circa) battendo velocemente le ali ad una frequenza di circa 200 volte al secondo e protendendo la lunga spirotromba verso i fiori per suggere il nettare. Il suo è un volo stazionario, particolare e molto differente da quello delle altre farfalle; le sue ali sono infatti animate da un movimento estremamente veloce, molto simile ad una vibrazione. Questo le permette di stazionare in modo fermo e preciso sui fiori e di gustarne il nettare restando in volo, non difformemente da un colibrì.
OPYphoto, kinglove, Hotelcalifornia, marius-secan, Miss_Piggy, imageme, Alex99, Filnato has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
None
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • lousat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 6595 W: 89 N: 15659] (65489)
  • [2014-01-01 12:12]

Ciao Roby,una foto che mi fa' venire l'ansia,ricordando un pomeriggio MOLTO soleggiato passato a cercare di fare,senza riuscirci,una foto cosi'..ehhee..sei grande come sempre,dettagli spettacolari dove possibile,la macchina che consente di congelare le ali a 1 milionesimo di secondo di esposizione non l'hanno ancora inventata...ehehe..buona serata! Luciano.

Ciao Roberto, my dear neighbour today,
Awesome photo to start the new year with, about an ultra-fast moth species which is always challenging to capture. But your shot is unbelievably clear, composed really well with the nice purple flower in the right bottom corner and the moth iin the left third of the image. Very, very pleasant to look at. Beautiful sunny colors with adequate white balance, excellent sharpness, fantastic background blur. Absolutely worthy of praising. Great job.
I wish you & your loved ones happy and prosperous new year. Kind regards, László

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2014-01-01 13:02]

Hello Roberto,
Fantastic macro in great clear light and colours and excellent sharpness and details. Beautiful contrasting purple flower and a splendid blurred background. Even the composition is outstanding.
Regards,
Peter

An excellent macro, sharp and nice colours. I remember seeing this moth feeding on honeysuckle and confusing it with a hummingbird. No hummingbird in the South of France though.
Would be good to display the photo EXIF details such as aperture and speed so we could learn from your skills.

Ciao Roby,
照的清晰 很漂亮的蛾
顏色鮮豔華麗 光線亮麗
照的很棒 角度也很好 能照的這般的清楚真是不簡單
我照過幾次效果都不好都算失敗
你的真是美麗極了
構圖美麗 背景深遂
謝謝分享
STONE

Hello Roberto,
Another stunning freezing shot of this Hummingbird Hawk-Moth.Very good details and colour.Nice BG with attractive POV.BG is also well managed.
Thanks for sharing,
Regards and have a nice time,
Srikumar

GREAT photo Roberto! Perfect timing, excellent composition, wonderful BG, fantastic collours and impressive sharpness!
My best wishes for the New Year
Christodoulos

Ciao Roberto, favolosa macro di quest'indemoniato velocissimo, magnifica nitidezza e splendidi colori, bravissimo come al solito, ti auguro di nuovo uno splendido 2014, ciao Silvio

Hello Roberto,
Nice to see your images....Remarkable photo and comments. This lovely specie has a wonderful natural color and an amazing speed in flight.....Almost impossible to take an accurate photo. The contrast against the background is superb. Very nice photo taken from a excellent POV.
Thanks for sharing!
Marius.

Hallo Roberto
Perfect shot with excellent exposure and focus! Good sharpness, beautiful colours and so much details. So well composed with a pleasant point of view. Very useful and interesting notes too. Best regards and thanks for sharing.
Anna

Hello Roberto

Nice and interesting composition to present this typical hawkmoth feeding scene. Absolutely perfect clarity.

Himanshu

Hello Roberto
A superb capture, my dream shot.
Superb clarity and colour.
Best wishes,
Samiran

Hi Roberto, Fantastic image of this flying moth with great clarity and sharpness. Great composition and POV along with brilliant colours. Thank for sharing and Happy New Year
Anna

hallo Roberto
super good sharpness composition with beautiful colours and great details
thanks greeting lou

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2014-01-02 10:34]

Hi Roberto.
It is very known for me subject. I love it a lot and I was able to take similar shots few times. All is great: direct POV, excellent exposure parameters and freezing of the moth, wonderful framing of the charming scene and so fine colours. Well done and TFS. Have a Happy 2014 year.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • nagraj Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1618 W: 106 N: 3208] (15166)
  • [2014-01-02 23:20]

Hi,
Excellent capture of this H Hawk moth on flight...good timing and viewpoint..lovely image. tfs.
nagraj.v

Hello Roberto,
I love this capture - great freezing of the moment and everything else is correct; composition, angle of view, clarity, sharpness, exposure, colours!
best regards
Filippos

  • Great 
  • iti Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 577 W: 0 N: 650] (7939)
  • [2014-01-05 11:23]

Hi Roberto,
Great image of this beautiful insect.
Amazing colors and excellent sharpness details.
Perfect composition and nicely blurred background.
Regards Jiri.

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF