At last, I got one.
Every now and then I see one of them flitting around, but they never sit, and they are extremely fast. But today was my day.
This could be an elusive Needle-nose Fly (Philoliche aethiopica), but it could also be an African Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum trochilus). In fact I think that it's the latter and I thank @steevc for bringing it to my attention. the amazing thing is that I never knew that they had such a long proboscis (tongue).
What I do know is that they speed around among the flower bushes and that I can never get one on camera. Another secret that I discovered, is that they are also pollinators.
Have a look at this.
Macroglossum trochilus, the African hummingbird hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. It is very common in most habitats throughout southern and eastern Africa and in the Comoro Islands. Adults are frequently seen at flowers in full sunshine.
I have 5 photos in this post of him to show you that it was not only one lucky shot on camera.
A view of our mountain to serve as a line break.
And this below was in our garden back home.
Two shots of a Paper Wasp of the family (Polistinae), sitting on a Christ Thorn Cactus flower.
A lovely Citrus Butterfly (Papilio demodocus demodocus) on the Periwinkle flowers.
A Shield Bug also on the Christ Thorn Cactus.
And finally, a female Red-veined Dragonfly.
Amazing when one thinks about the millions of insects on our planet and their purposes. Some are really frustrating, such for instance the renowned mosquitos, but they serve as a food source for the smaller animals such as geckos, lizards and chameleons. Just a pity that they have developed a serious taste for mankind's blood. We now bought two Citronella candles to burn when we sit outside at night, and still a mozzie got me on my leg, candles and all.
Insects are the most crucial to plant pollination, and, being key to life, they control the population and density of many life forms, such as plants. As parasites, some regulate pest populations. Sure, some can bring disease to humans and animals, while others destroy crops, but the majority of insects serve nature and keep the balance of life as we know it. They are beautiful and fascinating, and part of the most interesting of living creatures.
Source: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, by Mike Picker, Charles Griffiths, and Alan Weaving.
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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Long-tongued Horse-flies I have never heard of, last capture really amazing capture. Horse flies we have tend to be smaller and really bite similar/worse than mozzie that loves my blood 🙃.
Now into our ever loved loadshedding at two, caught you just before going off again!
Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for this informative post and pictures.
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Turns out not to be a Horse-fly, as the eyes are different. It is an African Hummingbird Hawk-moth of all things. A friend sent the ID to me, and I had to edit the post.
We seem to have same times for the power cuts, 6am-8am and we also had the 2pm-4pm, Our 3rd one today will be at 10-12pm.
Hope that your Sunday is also good and all the best for the new week.
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Oh boy it looked familiar I wrote about the Pellucid Hawk Moth after seeing one in our garden. Aren't they stunning to see.
Power cut, well just back online now once again, driving everyone crazy. Heat during the day with storms each night of late, flooding and calamity! Gods must be crazy, flinging all their furniture around upstairs!
40mm in an hour, was worse night before.... Sitting with Woody through the storm while everyone else was sleeping 🙃 !LOLZ
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Yep! I had a look at your post of 3 years ago, and that is also a beautiful hawk moth.
We saw some photos of the floods in KZN and it's very bad. Especially as the repairs from that last year flood, or was it the year before, has still not been completed. All of the northern beaches have also been closed.
Sad for you and Woody, but just hang in there, and at least everyone else were safe and sleeping. But they will awake in shock in the morning 🙏 !LOLZ
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Repairs never get done, train bridge still not repaired over Illovo river, sewerage in rivers ongoing, electricity not working, place is still a mess! Thanks ANC....
More rain over next couple of days predicted,more people to try assist with nothing once again.
Terribly slow, and quick fixes are not going to work. Up north, we had a burst pipe that had be repaired every few weeks. They come and fix, only for it to burst in the same place again. Eventually it just became a big hole that was left open for future quick repairs.
Yeah, we saw, and it strikes you guys very badly. Suffering is always bad in the low lying areas.
Stage 5 definitely called right for today, deluge on and off safer to stay off the roads.
Stage 5? We are in stage 1 and will go into stage 3 at 10pm tonight. Right, as the roads are not the place to be in weather like that.
Level 5 watershedding from above, stage 3 loadshedding from powers than not be! 🙃
Ah, level and not stage. I love your sarcastic remark.
Gatvol is the right word to fill the gap!
Even better 😉
Nice pics. It looks like a hummingbird hawk-moth to me. I sometimes see those around here and they are spectacular. There's not so much insect life around now it's turned cold.
Yep! Thank you for the link my friend, and I didn't even know that we had the Hummingbird Hawk-moths here. So, I Googled it and yes, you are right as it is one.
The Needle nose Horse fly has a similar body, but I missed to see that it has eyes like a fly.
So, I edited the post and hope that you don't mind me tagging you.
Insect life is always more abundant in hot weather.
!BEER
I'm happy to help. I seem to have seen more hawk-moths in recent years and they are impressive. I think I shared that I found a caterpillar for one. We try to provide a good environment for the insects in our garden.
Thank you once again and you are lucky to see them often, as I have always only had very fleeting sights of one. A caterpillar of one must be interesting to see. We also try to keep our garden the same as the surrounding nature, but I have not seen one here yet. Maybe one day !LOL
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BEERKING.That's how life complements each other, giving and receiving, like insects and flowers. I love the photos you shared, perfect shots
Thank you and I like your giving and receiving comment. Life like nature and nature like life.
Glad that you liked the shots.
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It is very difficult to photograph an insect in flight. I was delighted with the first photos. Very cool!
Oh yes, especially this one, as I wanted to get it for a long time but was never successful until now.
Glad that you liked it.
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The first one. I saw this long time ago. I Through its a bird. Its one of the most beauty of creator.
Great that you also saw one, and yes, they are very fast and beautiful.
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Such spectacular colours! What a feast for the eyes. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you kindly and glad that you liked the post.
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I myself keep going to make pictures like this and it is not easy to make pictures because these little insects fly away immediately it takes a lot of time to make such beautiful pictures.
Yes, I know that it's not easy to get them, but one must creep up on them and wait for them with patience to do their things.