#一起享受大自然的美 #
In the evening, the sky had darkened. Among the flowers of the bougainvillea, a small thing larger than a horse wasp, but very much like a bee, was found hovering rapidly between the flowers, occasionally hovering in front of a bougainvillea, extending a long beak to probe the small core.
It glithered through the flowers, flapping its wings at great speed, as if a pair of translucent fans were inserted into its posterior spine.
"Hummingbirds! Is it a hummingbird? I exclaimed.
Someone and my son both came running to see.
"It's a bit like eh, it should be a hummingbird." Son said.
"Just a moth." Someone negative.
The guy ignored our discussion and still circled the whole bougainvillea, one up, one down, one left, one right, one before and after. Stop occasionally, take a sip of honey in the flower core, and before you have time to look at it, you don't know where to go.
"Buzzing", the sound of bees flying in your ears.
I held up my phone and kept snapping, "clicking" countless photos. When I finally looked at it, I didn't find even half a shadow of it.
Fortunately, in that small video, you can see its blurry appearance.
No, here it is
In fact, what someone said is exactly what I suspect.
Its body shape is not as exquisite as that of a hummingbird, and its waist is slightly thicker; At the same time, there are no hummingbirds with brilliant feathers. Moreover, hummingbirds are mainly produced in the Americas, and there is no record of hummingbirds found in Chengdu. I don't think I'll be so lucky.
But I've never seen a moth so astute, able to fly so fast... So what exactly is it?
Reluctantly, I consulted Du Niang.
From the "hummingbird" to the search, I finally found it: the hummingbird eagle moth.
Hummingbird eagle moth (scientific name: Macroglossum stellatarum), also known as the small bean long-beaked moth, hummingbird moth, long-beaked moth, hummingbird butterfly moth, hummingbird moth...
It is known as the "four unlikes" in the insect world.
First of all, it's like a butterfly. Active during the day, the mouthparts have long beaked tubes and expanded antennae with tips. When the wings are spread, they have colorful and dazzling colors.
Second, it is a moth. Moths are close relatives of butterflies, and what sets them apart from butterflies is the thick abdomen I mentioned earlier.
Again, they are like bees. In summer and autumn, they collect honey among the flowers and emit a clear and audible hum during flight.
Then, it's also like a hummingbird. At night, there is very little rest. Hover and gallop among the flowers, hovering in front of the flowers to eat nectar.
In addition to having one more pair of tentacles than hummingbirds and no feathers on its wings, it is extremely similar to hummingbirds in terms of weight, shape, habits, and flight speed, so it is named hummingbird moth by biologists.
Hummingbird hawk moths are still rare in Sichuan. Speaking of which, it is a blessing to see it today.