Kingdom Animalia Order Lepidoptera Genus Hemaris Higher classification Hemaris | Phylum Arthropoda Family Sphingidae Scientific name Hemaris tityus Rank Species | |
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Similar Hemaris, Sphingidae, Butterflies and moths, Hemaris fuciformis, Insect | ||
Hemaris tityus
Hemaris tityus, the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth, is a moth of the Sphingidae family which is native to the Palearctic.
Contents
Hemaris tityus slowmotion dscf6760
Range
It has a wide range, from Ireland across temperate Europe to the Ural Mountains, western Siberia, Novosibirsk and the Altai. It is also known from the Tian Shan eastwards across Mongolia to north-eastern China and southwards to Tibet. There is a separate population found from Turkey to northern Iran.
Biology
It appears in May and June and is a lively day-flier (unlike most other sphingids), generally active from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. It frequents marshy woodland and damp moorland, and has a wide distribution across temperate Europe and Western Asia, but is generally quite scarce. The larvae feed on devil's-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) and field scabious (Knautia arvensis).
Identification
It is distinguished from H. fuciformis by the narrow band of scaling along the outer wing margin, and the forewing's undivided discal cell. It has a wingspan of 40–50 millimetres (1.6–2.0 in). It is one of two similar species of sphingid moth occurring in Britain that closely mimic a bumblebee.
