''Macroglossum belis'', the common hummingbird hawkmoth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths ( Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, ...

. It was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is known from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, southern China,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

, Japan (Ryukyu Archipelago),

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(Java).

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 50–60 mm. Adults are attracted to the flowers of ''

Duranta erecta ''Duranta erecta'' is a species of Flowering plant, flowering shrub in the verbena family Verbenaceae, native from Mexico to South America and the Caribbean. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, sub ...

'' and ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

'' at dawn and dusk. The adult differs from '' Macroglossum affictitia'' in the head, thorax, abdomen and forewings being redder brown, the two lines forming the antemedial band of the forewing not filled in with black. The postmedial lines not so parallel, the second line being nearer the first at the costa, the third at inner margin. The patch near the apex reddish brown with no dark streak below it. Hindwings with reddish-yellow band. Larva is black. The head red, a white subdorsal line and the sides spotted and streaked with red and yellow. Larvae have been recorded feeding on ''

Strychnos angustiflora ''Strychnos'' is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae). The genus includes about 100 accepted species of trees and lianas, and more than 200 that are as yet unresolved. The genus is widely di ...

'' in Hong Kong and on ''

Strychnos nux-vomica ''Strychnos nux-vomica'', the strychnine tree, also known as nux vomica, poison fruit, semen strychnos, and quaker buttons, is a deciduous tree native to India and to southeast Asia. It is a medium-sized tree in the family Loganiaceae that grows ...

'', '' Saprosoma indicum'' and ''

Spermadictyon suaveolans ''Spermadictyon'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rubiaceae. Its native range is Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nat ...

'' in India.

References

External links

* Macroglossum Moths described in 1758 Moths of Asia Moths of Indonesia Moths of Japan Moths of Sri Lanka Moths of Taiwan Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Macroglossum-stub