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Hummingbird Moth


Hummingbird Moth
Photo Information
Copyright: Ram Thakur (ramthakur) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4316 W: 231 N: 14052] (56953)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-10-16
Categories: Insects
Camera: Nikon D200, Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 APO DG MACRO, 58mm UV
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/400 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-11-04 2:20
Viewed: 4897
Points: 38
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Hummingbird Moth

Friends, I shot this very restless moth in the little garden in front of our house at my native place in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. The marigolds were in full bloom and numerous insects including this Hummingbird Moth were having a good time on them.
This moth hovers over flowers only for the briefest of moment and out of many shots I took, only this one looked passable to me. I wish I had selected the sports mode for shooting this picture and got its wings visible. But then wishes,as they say, are not horses that every fool can ride. Please forgive me for the shortcomings in the picture; this is my first-ever shot of this insect and I am excited about it.

Here is a note from Wiki:

The Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a species of hawk moth with a long proboscis, and regularly hovers, making an audible humming noise. These two features make it look remarkably like a hummingbird when it feeds on flowers, a result 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.

Distribution
The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is distributed throughout the northern Old World from Portugal to Japan, but is resident only in warmer climates (Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa, and points east). It is strongly migratory 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, etc.).
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.

Thanks for looking.
Adanac, sranjan, Argus, eng55, haraprasan, eqshannon, Alex99, matatur, Heaven, kmr13777, albert, Pearl, fartash, Royaldevon has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To sranjan: Hellosranjan 1 11-11 08:39
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1273 W: 1 N: 6188] (21378)
  • [2008-11-04 2:56]

Hello Ram,
We are neighbours today and its an honor for me. I too would be excited if this was my image, the colors and focus are great, especially when considering how quick they are. Thank you Ram for this lovely composition.
Rick
Great notes too.

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 988 W: 4 N: 3277] (14761)
  • [2008-11-04 3:23]

Hello Sir, a nice shot and a good colors. Thanks for sharing. Ganesh

Dear Ram Sir,
You have captured beautifully this rare hummingbird hawk moth. The details are amazing with the proboscis well focused till the stamens of the marigold flower. I had never known such entity before. TFS.
Regards-Subhash

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5038 W: 260 N: 15594] (50626)
  • [2008-11-04 5:56]

An excellent in flight of a hovering Hummingbird Hawk-moth with fine sharpness Ram, considering the relatively low shutterspeed.
You took this from a good POV and composed this nicely among the tagetes flowers.
It could well be of the Macroglossum genus but I don't think this is stellatarum, a species that I know well from Europe.
Nice to see this though and thanks for sharing this fine image,
All the best,
Ivan

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1256 W: 42 N: 1976] (5892)
  • [2008-11-04 7:14]

Hi Ram,
Lovely in flight capture.I liked Vivid colors and moment you caught a lot.
Thanks for posting.

Hi Mr. Ram,
A nice capture of this beautiful flying humming bird moth. Superb details with good details and nice timing. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Sincerely
HP

This is a very usual thing. I don't believe we have them. No person I have talked to has seen or heard of them. Catching it in flight as this was good...and a bit tricky I should imagine. Now here most insects are gone or waiting until a new life cycle...so until the snows fly I shall try some new tricks in reading and perhaps going over these older posts to see if my quieted mind can come up with new techniques. Very nice..
Bob

Lovely in flight capture.I liked Vivid colors and moment you caught a lot.

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2008-11-04 9:56]

Hi Ram.
Few days ago I have pictured this moth. However, colours of the surroundings now are not attractive and shots are not very good too. Pictured by your scene is amazing and composition is great too. Timing is very good. However, I have user 1/1000 exposure time and I thing it is not enough yet.. My best wishes and TF this beauty.
Alexei.

A fine lateral capture of an in-flight hawkmoth while feeding Ram, good, saturated colours and abstract figures all in one composition. TFS this fine image my friend.
Best regards,
Mehmet

hello sir,
this time its a flying insect, i have tried so many times to shoot a flying insect but met with very less success, the hummning bird sipping nectar from a french marigols makes a nice scene to shoot and you have captured it well, finely composed shot,
tfs & regards
pankaj

  • Great 
  • Heaven Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 996 W: 123 N: 2341] (7912)
  • [2008-11-04 21:24]

Hi Ram!

Orange seems to be the colour of your last postings. Your picture is not only interesting from the scientific point of view, but also very pleasant to look at. The colours are joyful and create a nice contrast to the foggy grey we live here at the moment. I'm also impressed by the fact that you were able to catch this insect during flight.

Kind regards

Markus

Hello Ram,
Great in flight shot and definately a difficult one too. Ecellent colors and frame.

TFS

Kirti

Hello Ram,
Great in flight capture, good focus and very nice colours
TFS
Albert

  • Great 
  • Pearl Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 105 W: 25 N: 76] (321)
  • [2008-11-05 3:10]

Hi Ram,

I must say that this is a very impressive shot. The focus and pose is great along with such beautiful colors and BG. i like the POV and composition very much. TFS.

Pearl.

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1739 W: 224 N: 6872] (24909)
  • [2008-11-05 13:52]

Hi Ram!
Congratulations on capturing this Hummingbird Hawk-moth.
The colours here are so beautiful!
Excellent composition.
Great reactions.

Well done,
Joe

  • Great 
  • pertu Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 12 W: 0 N: 19] (102)
  • [2008-11-06 23:11]

Dear Ram!
The picture is beautiful, more interesting that it is 100% NOT Macroglossa stellatarum.
Looks very strange to me, might be much closer to Macroglossa aquila Boisduval, [1875] but it's still not shure...
Yours,
Greg

Dear Ram
Very nice shot of this restless Moth,
Perfect colors,composition and BG.I 've visited them once here but I couldn't take a good picture ;O)

Good Luck
Fartash

Hello Ram,

I can understand how good you felt when you captured this!!
I am amazed at the length of the proboscis!
It's like drinking a milkshake whilst sitting in another room!
Lovely details of the marigold, too!

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

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