Hummingbird Hawk Moth or Bee Hawk moth... did anyone see any this year?

Adrianno28

I usually see quite a few of these most years, but I have only seen 1 this year... maybe it was the weather, wasn't very warm this year. Also butterflies in general have been very scarce later in the year , I usually see lots of Cabbage whites ... or maybe it's just me not seeing them!

Mothman

Hummingbird Hawk-moth does not overwinter in Ireland. The vast bulk seen are immigrants from southern Europe or Africa. The amount that reach Ireland varies hugely from year to yea and its a bit hit and miss where they turn up. This year there have been quite a few reports from mainly from southern and eastern coastal regions.

Bee Hawk-moths (of which we have just the one species being Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth) and butterflies are sun creatures and while overall reports seem to down on expectation when the weather was warm and sunny they did seem to be around.

Note that last year there was a huge influx of Painted Lady (an immigrant species) and this made it appear that there were loads of butterflies last year.

I've had loads of butterflies this year, but have also had the best of the weather compared to rest of country.

Jim Martin

Maybe the warm Southerly winds forecast in the next few days will bring some up from the South.