In winter, most parts of China have ushered in a cold wave, and the atmosphere of the wild has become depressed. However, in parts of south and southwest China, some lively scenes can still be seen. Sometimes in the flowers on the side of the road, you can see some dark figures moving through it quickly, and their wings flap so fast that it is almost impossible to see its appearance.
The hovering medium-high-speed black long-beaked moth does meet people's imagination of hummingbirds from a distance. Image: aniruddha_singhamahapatra/ inaturalist.org
Many people will mistake these agile and alert small flying objects for hummingbirds, but hummingbirds only live in the Americas, Asia is unlikely to be seen, and the "hummingbirds" in the small videos of the circle of friends are mostly daily moth species, mostly members of the genus Long-beaked Tianmo, and macroglossum pyrrhosticta is one of the most observable species.
What is the long-beaked moth (tactical back)! Image: Blontine/inaturalist.org
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Belonging to the subfamily Lepidoptera, the long-beaked moth is one of the representative species of the genus Long-beaked Amaranth, and as its Chinese name suggests — most of its body is covered with dull black-brown body hair and scales, with a signature black marking on each side of the forewing. The bright yellow of the hindwings can only be seen when flying. The black long-beaked moth in different regions and even in different seasons tends to have some individual differences in appearance, so there have been some heterogeneous and ineffective subspecies in the history of this species.
When you don't open your wings, you can't see the bright yellow on the hindwings of the black long-beaked moth. Photo: Lu Qianle
The model origin of the black long-beaked moth is Shanghai, but its distribution is very extensive, from the cold Russia and Japan in the Far East, through the vast Chinese mainland, to the southern foothills of the humid, hot and rainy Himalayas can be seen, in addition to the northern and northwestern regions, almost half of China can see them visiting flowers and nectar, and even all the way to South Asia and Southeast Asia, the adaptability is extremely domineering.
The bushes of bushes along the roadside are the habitats of the long-beaked black moth. Image: Thorn
The author has seen the figure of the black long-beaked moth in the dry and hot river valleys in the southwest region, the high-altitude forest edge of the central China Mountains, and even the flowers under the shopping malls in downtown Shanghai; due to the strong phototropism of the moth family, it can also be seen at night on the wall near the street lamp or light source, and will even be attracted by the light and break into the living room.
In the lively street market in Central, Hong Kong, you can also see the figure of the long-beaked moth. Image: Ericching / inaturalist.org
However, the black long-beaked moth prefers to come out and move its muscles and bones the most, or from dusk to evening. In some areas with high biodiversity in the south, at sunset you can even see a variety of moths, including black long-beaked moths, along with ruler moths, tiger moths, butterflies, etc. enjoying the same grass full of wildflowers, a carnival feast of lepidopters.
At the same time in the same flower bush with the black long-beaked moth foraging with some moths, many of which are very similar to its species, everyone look for who is the black long-beaked? Image: Thorn
In most areas, the black long-beaked moth occurs from April to October, but in the summer and autumn they are more concentrated and relatively easy to observe. In some warm southern regions, the black long-beaked moth is seen almost all year round.
The long black-beaked moth prefers to visit flowers when the sun is shining. Image: Light two blue
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As a child, the long black-beaked moth is a slender pig worm with a light green or pinkish green body, and the end of the abdomen has the iconic fleshy "tail" of the larvae of the larvae of the family Lycaenidae, and as the larvae grow, dark green stripes gradually grow on the sides of the body. The high acceptance of larvae to their hosts is also one of the reasons for the wide distribution of the black long-beaked moth, and a variety of plants in the madder family are on its menu, especially the chicken yak vine.
Black long-beaked moth favorite chicken ya vine. Image: Forest & Kim Starr/wikimedia
In some greenery cities, look for vines in suburbs or parks where there is no spray insect spray, and you may be able to see these little ones. The larvae of the long-beaked black moth will burrow into the soil to pupate, and the pupa will look like a peanut kernel, and there will be many black-brown spots on it. The sexes of the black long-beaked moth have little difference in pattern, and the relative posture of the female will be fuller, and the antennae are more slender than those of the male.
Larvae of the black long-beaked moth. Image: Kit Law/inaturalist.org
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The long-beaked moth macroglossum is the largest genus of the long-beaked moth subfamily Macroglossinae, and it is also one of the most abundant genera in the entire moth family, with more than 100 species recorded worldwide, and there are more than 20 species of long-beaked moths in China.
Most of these species are as black as the black long-beaked moth, and the hindwings have a distinct yellow color, mainly based on the size of the black spots on the hindwings and the black markings on the forewings and various fragmentary patterns around them, of course, the wing type and body size are also a measure, and many species are distributed in the same place as the black long-beaked moth, such as the curved long-beaked moth (M. sitiene), M. beaked moth (M. sitiene). variegatum) and so on, silly can't tell the difference.
There are many similar species of black long-beaked moths in China, and the distinction can be described as a stubble for everyone to find. Image: Roger Kendrick / Hongkong Entomological Bulletin (2010).
The good adaptability of the black long-beaked moth also makes them one of the most common moths in urban areas, for example, sometimes when I talk to my family on the phone, I will tell me that there are moths on the flower table on the balcony today to eat nectar, the whole body is pitch black, flying like a big fly..... These small creatures not only occupy their own unique ecological niches in the natural world, but also add a lot of vitality and fun to our daily lives.
The long black-beaked moth is also one of the most common moths in the city. Image: Blackdogto/inaturalist.org
In the face of today's rapid urban development, their living space is also constantly being compressed, hoping to leave them a breathing place in the hustle and bustle of reinforced concrete forests.
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