Following a long and very heavy spell of high heat days with health warnings to stay indoors etc there was rain today and afterwards this wonderful moth was working the flowers on the milkweed plants.

About the size of a thumb and an absolute gem of an insect – we have seen them before but not managed to get a good photograph – this chap was really cooperative. The species will be listed in a couple of weeks as #148 on my 1000 Species project but it merits a special mention here. Also known as the Hummingbird Moth and even the Flying Lobster. The larvae feed on plants including honeysuckle, viburnum, hawthorn, snowberry, cherry, mint, and plum. Look at the beautifully curled proboscis in the fourth picture.