Moth butterflies - amazing creatures... They are called "northern hummingbirds" because of their gigantic (for insects) size, as well as because of their feeding habits. Just like miniature tropical birds, hawk moths drink the nectar of flowers, hovering above them in flight. Another name for these amazing insects- sphinxes.
Take a look at this miracle
Looking at photographs of butterflies, you will involuntarily hold your eyes on them. Their appearance is very unusual. The large hairy body is very thick. It somehow resembles a wingspan of up to ten centimeters on average! Individuals are known that are five centimeters larger than the average specimens. The speed of their movement is amazing for butterflies - it can reach fifty kilometers per hour. There is a clear characteristic ornament on the back and wings, which makes it possible to distinguish them from their relatives. After all, the species of butterflies in Russia are extremely numerous.
Lifestyle
For the most part they do. However, some fly in the daytime. The caterpillars of these butterflies have a long outgrowth at the end of the body. These horned creatures also have a very thick and large body. Many hawk moths are listed in the Red Book. Several types of these insects can be found in some areas. Bedstraw and small wine hawk moths are extremely bright butterflies, they are found in Russia. In particular, in Lipetsk region... really is very similar to a small bird - especially children notice this similarity.
Mysterious insects
Since ancient times, hawk moths have caused many superstitions among the people. This is most likely due to their colorful and unusual appearance, size and color, as well as nocturnal lifestyle. Superstitious people attributed to butterflies a relationship with evil spirits. Another feature of the hawk makers scared people - the ability to publish enough loud sounds... The mechanism of the squeak and squeak that can be heard from this butterfly is not fully understood. attributed this property to the proboscis of a butterfly. But scientists have yet to understand what actually happens to the insect. The hawk maker is very fond of eating honey. For this, the butterfly can fearlessly enter the bee hive! Some entomologists put forward the version that the quiet squeaking sounds emitted by the hawk moth are similar to the sounds that have a hypnotizing effect on bees. This allows the butterfly to divert the attention of the insects in the hive and eat the honey fearlessly. But even if the bees attack it, it will easily be beaten off by its strong wings. But the harm of the hawk maker to the hives is insignificant. The butterfly cannot damage the condition of the apiary - it should not be exterminated under any circumstances. After all, she is a rarity unique representative nature. If you are lucky enough to find a live hawk moth that flew into the entrance or premises, try to carefully catch it and release it. By doing this you will contribute to the preservation unique look beautiful butterflies. Moreover, you should not specially catch the hawk moth for fun or collecting.
HALIBRI OF THE WORLD OF INSECTS The proboscis moth or common tongue (Macroglossum stellatarum L.), like a hummingbird, hangs over a flower, lowering its long proboscis into it.
Common tongue or proboscis hawk - Macroglossum stellatarum (Linnaeus, 1758) is a small hawk with a wingspan of 40-50 mm. The front wings are gray with a dark transverse pattern, the hind wings are bright orange with a narrow dark border. Active during the day. It feeds by hovering over flowers. The proboscis is well developed. In the pupa, the proboscis cover is soldered, but it protrudes keeled. This species is common in Europe, North Africa, in the north and in middle lane Asia, South India. In the CIS - everywhere in the southern and central regions before Of the Far East... In the Kuban mass appearance, is found everywhere. Migrant, the first generation is replenished by stray individuals. In the Kuban, it gives at least three generations, partially coinciding in time: I - November - May, II - June - July, III - August - September. Both the butterfly and the pupa hibernate. In the thaw, a flying butterfly can be found in any winter month... The butterfly lays eggs on the fly on the host plant, attaching them one at a time. The caterpillar feeds on the bedstraw, madder. Pupates in the ground. Before pupation, the caterpillar turns red. The pupa is light.
* Hawk moths - for the most part large butterflies with a thick, muscular body, narrowed towards the posterior end. The front wings of the hawk moths are narrow, long, and pectoral muscles very powerful, which is why hawk moths are the fastest butterflies. Record speed among butterflies: 54 km per hour recorded for hawkers. The flight of these butterflies is so swift that you cannot even see them.
Moth butterflies — bright representatives vast world insects. They are often called "northern" or sphinxes because of large sizes and a somewhat unusual way of eating.
There are many types of moths, each of them has its own characteristic color, a special pattern on the surface of the wings and back. So, butterfly Wine hawk burgundy, like dark, red wine, and Hawk's head has an image on its back that looks like a real skull.
The color of a butterfly depends on the vegetation on which it lives, on the way it feeds. Most of the Brazhniks have a bright color, a pattern of an oblique strip on a bright background with large spots in the form big eyes on the back.
In the photo, the hawk moth is a dead head
Features and habitat of the hawk moth
The hawk moth is a rather large, heavy butterfly with a powerful, conical body and elongated wings, the span of which reaches 35 - 175 mm. Antennae of all Brazhniks are long, hook-shaped, with a pointed top.
Round, open eyes butterflies from above are covered with scaly eyebrows. The proboscis is strong, often longer than the body. The feet are equipped with several rows of sturdy spikes. The abdomen of the Hawk Moth is covered with scales, which fit to the end in a tassel or wide brush.
Hawk hawk flies very quickly, in flight it resembles a jet plane that flies with a characteristic low hum. It occurs due to very frequent flaps of its wings, the insect makes 52 flaps per second.
Many types of Brazhniks resemble small birds such as Oleander hawk, Death's Head, Common Tongue and Wine Moth, they travel great distances on flights from continent to continent or from one end of the country to the other.
On the picture oleander hawk
Butterfly pictures are always bright and attractive. Hawk moth with a front wing length of 32-42 mm, it has a wingspan of 64-82 mm. The front wings of the butterfly are extended towards the top, have a carved edge at the bottom, are painted brown with dark marble patterns.
The back of the Hawk Moth is decorated with a wide, brown stripe. The hind wings at the base of the body of the butterfly are pinkish-red, against this background they show through large spots resembling black eyes with a blue ring inside. The insect's whiskers are serrate.
Tobacco hawk lives in tropical areas South America, occurs up to the northern states of the United States. It is considered a pest of tobacco plantations, since this culture is the main food for insect caterpillars. On the abdomen, this hawk moth has an interesting pattern consisting of six pairs of red and yellow squares.
In the photo is a tobacco hawk
Linden hawk has a wingspan of 62 to 80 mm. The edges of its front wings are jagged. The color of the wings shimmers from olive green to reddish. Against this background, two large, irregular, often interconnected dark spots stand out.
The hindwings are orange with a dark stripe. The caterpillar of this butterfly is green with red oblique stripes on the sides, the black pupa spends winter in the soil. Lives in deciduous forests Europe and Western Siberia, in the gardens of Asia Minor and the Caucasus. Flies actively in early summer, sometimes early autumn a second generation of insects may appear.
Hawk moth eating
Most of the hawkers feed on flower nectar, while they do not sit on the flower, but hang over it and suck the nectar with a long proboscis. This flight is considered the most difficult, it is aerobatics, not all insects possess it, but it does not contribute to pollination of plants.
Some hawkers prefer to consume bee honey. So the butterfly Dead's head literally robs the hives at night, hovering over them and imitating the buzzing, penetrates the hive, pierces the honeycomb with its strong trunk and sucks out the honey.
Reproduction and life expectancy
Moth butterflies live for several days, their lifespan depends on the reserves accumulated by the body at the larval stage. The whole life cycle is approximately 30-45 days, during the summer sometimes two generations of insects grow.
Hawk moths are insects that have full cycle transformation. It consists of 4 stages: an egg, a larva (or caterpillar), a pupa, a butterfly - an adult insect. Pheromones, which are secreted by the glands of the female, help the male to find a pair of his species.
Mating of insects lasts from 23 minutes to several hours, during which the partners remain completely immobile. Then the female lays fertilized eggs almost immediately, in a clutch there are up to 1000 of them in a clutch, depending on the species.
Hawk caterpillar
The eggs attach to plants where there is enough food for the caterpillars. Hawk Moth Caterpillars appear on the 2nd-4th day. They are very active, consume a lot of oxygen and food, which allows them to grow and develop rapidly.
The hawk moth caterpillars are perfectly adapted for survival: some species are brightly colored, thick and hard hairs, others are color-masking to the environment, streamlined body shape, some distinguish bad smell due to accumulation in the body poisonous substances.
Most of them feed on the leaves of the plants on which they hatched. The moth caterpillars do not bring much harm to forests and gardens, because they mainly eat only young leaves. They are especially active at dusk and at night.
Having gained enough strength and nutrients, the caterpillar plunges into the soil and pupates there. Have Hawk's pupae at the bottom rises a small horn, which almost all species have.
The pupal stage lasts about 18 days, during which great changes occur - a complete metamorphosis of the body, wonderful transformation hawk larvae into a beautiful adult.
A ripe insect frees itself from a dry cocoon, spreads its wings and dries them. Having gained the ability to fly, the butterfly immediately goes in search of a sexual partner so that the life cycle of this creature is not interrupted.
Most of the species of Brazhniks are in the Russian Red Data Book, as well as in the regional Red Data Books. These insects destroy many weeds and simply decorate our world.
In this article, you will learn what they are called and why they are so often confused. In addition, you will be able to familiarize yourself with its appearance and feeding habits that make it so similar to this tropical bird.
Features of life
Probably, every person at least once in his life had to hear that a large insect similar to a hummingbird was seen in his city. According to eyewitnesses, it hovers over a flower and drinks nectar from it. However, this is not a small bird at all, but unusual butterfly- hawk moth, which is often called proboscis or tongue.
The number of hawk moths is subject to strong fluctuations every year. So, for example, with favorable climatic conditions their population increases significantly, and if in the warm season falls a large number of precipitation, they are quite rare.
At the same time, even if the climate is extremely favorable for their reproduction, it is almost impossible to track the general trends in population changes. This is directly related to the fact that the hummingbird-like insect makes frequent migrations over considerable distances, flying from southern regions to the north, where most individuals simply die from the cold. Moreover, their flight speed can reach 50 km / h.
Basic data
The hummingbird-like butterfly is small but extremely beautiful. It belongs to the family of hawk moths (Sphingidae). Its wingspan is 40-50 mm. It is thanks to its unusual appearance and way of feeding that when they first see this insect, people mistake it for a hummingbird, because, in addition to its external resemblance, it also flies mainly in the daytime.
The hummingbird-like insect rarely rests. It can stay in the air without stopping, quickly moving its wings. At the same time, his movements are so fast that the human eye does not have time to follow them. At the same time, due to this speed, they emit a low buzzing noise.
Flying up to a flower, the hawk hangs over it and, holding itself in this position, lowers its proboscis inside it, starting to feed on nectar.
It is noteworthy that this species of butterflies has a very good memory and constantly returns to feed on the flowers he likes. Despite the fact that the yazykan belongs to the class of moths, it flies exclusively in the daytime.
Reproduction
The hummingbird-like butterfly prefers to lay its eggs on food plants. She does this on the fly, attaching them one at a time. Caterpillars are formed from them, the sizes of which directly depend on the type of hawk moth. They can be yellow-green or brownish-red with white dotted warts, black spiracles and longitudinal stripes of white, yellow or red, located near the "legs". Almost immediately after emergence, they begin to eat the leaves of plants closest to the place of egg-laying, as a result of which the shoots become bare and soon die. Moth caterpillars can cause significant harm to most crops, among which grapes and potatoes suffer most from their invasions.
Before pupation, the moth caterpillars turn red and burrow into the ground without a cocoon. Despite the fact that the cover of the pupa's proboscis is welded together, it nevertheless protrudes in a glue-like manner. The color of the pupa is light, it can vary depending on the species of hawk moth from gray-brown to bluish-green.
Description
The hummingbird-like insect has a rather unusual appearance... Proboscis adult well developed. The forewings are gray or gray-brown. On top of the main color there are two bands of deep black color. The outer edge of the forewings is solid. The hindwings are orange, with a narrow dark border. The head is round. The abdomen has a wide, albeit rather flat, hair brush at the end. At the end of the body there is an almost straight horn of a pale blue color with a brown ending.
The most common types:
- Wine.
- Euphorbiaceous.
- Poplar.
- Dead Head.
Most of them are bright and unusual in color.
Habitat
The hummingbird-like insect can fly long distances. Within one year, up to two generations of hawk moths manage to develop. The first one flies from the first days of May to mid-July. For the most part, it consists of individuals arriving from the south. The second generation flies from August to October. At the same time, some of the butterflies migrate to warm regions in the fall.
The hummingbird-like insect can be found in almost any country with warm and temperate climate... So, for example, in Crimea, hawk moths are found everywhere and produce at least three generations... Both the butterfly and the pupa hibernate. Moreover, if a prolonged thaw occurs in winter, they can make an unplanned flight, therefore, they can be seen in any winter month.
As permanent places habitats prefer open, well-heated areas. In cities, it can be seen in flower beds, hanging over flowering plants. V wild conditions The hawk maker prefers to feed on the nectar of cornflowers and bruises, and in cultivated landscapes - geraniums and petunias.
In the middle of summer, an unusual insect hangs over the flower beds, collecting pollen with its long proboscis. At first glance, it can be compared to a hummingbird, so quickly it flaps its wings. In fact, from the family of hawk moths, it is considered a butterfly.
Strange "birds"
In summer, strange guests can be seen flitting quickly from one flower to another. They hover over marigolds and majors, for some reason remain indifferent to rose bushes, drop tiny proboscis inside the flowers and fly away just as quickly.
The first thought for most people is: "Where does hummingbird come from in our area?" We are not in America, which means that the mysterious guests have nothing in common with the famous bird. Then who are these small, fast scurrying creatures? Let me imagine - this is an ordinary language. The photo of the insect below will make it possible to carefully see and evaluate the similarity with the hummingbird. With the help of its wings, a butterfly hovers over a flower for a few seconds and drinks its nectar, in almost the same way as a bird does.
The main characteristics of the insect
The proboscis moth, or common tongue, is distinguished by gray front wings, on which a transverse pattern is inscribed, while the rear ones are decorated with a dark border on an orange background. They swing open up to 50 mm, and their swings are so rapid that it is almost impossible to see them.
The insect is of medium size. Its abdomen is decorated with a tassel with hairs, and it looks a bit like a bird's tail. That is why hawk moth (common tongue) is associated with hummingbirds by many. Caterpillars of the butterfly are green to dark brown, however, before becoming mature, the pupa turns red.
The insect produces offspring twice during the summer. Caterpillars of the first generation, preferring flooded places, appear in the thickets of bedstraw and starfish. As a rule, this occurs during the period early autumn(September, early October). The appearance of the second generation occurs in the summer (June, August).
The common tongue is a heat-loving insect. It appears at the beginning of summer. Insects arrive from the south, but representatives of the second generation fly away to regions with warm climatic conditions with autumn colds.
Distribution territories
On the territory of Crimea, the common tongue is capable of giving three generations during the year. The insect has adapted so much in warm climates that it is found almost everywhere. Insects are widespread in European countries, in the territories North Africa... This species of hawk moth produces offspring in Asia and South India. In the territories of the countries of the former CIS, the common language settles in the southern and central regions up to the Far East. On the fertile, flowering lands of the Kuban, the insect is capable of breeding offspring three times per season. In winter, the hawk moth retains its appearance, being in the state of both a butterfly and a pupa. At the first warm, even winter, rays of the sun, it strives to make a flight.
The number of insects
The number of representatives of the hawk family varies greatly from year to year. This is due to a number of reasons:
- a sharp change in weather conditions not typical for the places of residence and reproduction of the species;
- pollution of habitats with chemical products;
- sudden changes in temperature;
- unpleasant weather during the migration period.
During favorable periods numerical strength the population of butterflies can be quite large, and in hard years the number of insects decreases.
An ordinary tongue, hovering over a flower, does not touch its leaves, lowering only its proboscis inside.
The hawk moth is capable of flying at speeds up to 50 km per hour. This speed enables him to cover very long distances.
One insect pollinates about 30 flowers per minute on a sunny day.
In 2007, hawk moth and butterfly pupae were sent into space aboard the biosatellite in order to find out how insects will survive space overloads and a state of weightlessness. The scientists' project was called "Space Butterfly".
The species "oleander hawk" is under protection and is listed in the Red Book.
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