Best time to see: Jul to end Aug
Key facts
Summer visitor from France that hovers to feed from flowers with its long proboscis
Habitat: anywhere that it can find nectar plants, including in gardens and parks
Anywhere in Britain, but most common along the south coast; typically 50 or so sightings per year
Recognition
Mainly grey, with small orange hindwings and a long proboscis extended to feed from flowers
Hovers in front of flowers to drink nectar, its wings moving so fast they are barely visible
Feeds on nectar-rich flowers such as geraniums, honeysuckles, petunias, periwinkles and verbenas; wingspan 57mm
Lifecycle
Eggs laid singly on Lady's Bedstraw and Hedge Bedstraw
Green caterpillars, turning brown when older, active in July and August, forming a loose chrysalis on the ground
Some moths probably hibernate in the warm south and west of England, emerging in early spring before migrants arrive
© Tony Gunton
© Tony Gunton