Hummingbird hawk-moth

The hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a species of hawk moth found across temperate regions of Eurasia. The species is named for its similarity to hummingbirds, as they feed on the nectar of tube-shaped flowers using their long proboscis while hovering in the air; this resemblance is an example of convergent evolution.

Hummingbird hawk-moth
In flight
At rest
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Macroglossum
Species:
M. stellatarum
Binomial name
Macroglossum stellatarum
Synonyms
  • Sphinx stellatarum Linnaeus, 1758
Distribution map: yellow, winter in the Northern Hemisphere; green, year round; blue, summer in the Northern Hemisphere

The hummingbird hawk-moth was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. As of 2018, its entire genome and mitogenome have been sequenced.[1]

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