This morning I was so astonished to discover this amazingly beautiful night butterfly.
I searched in my insect books and on the web, but with no satisfying result.
I only discovered it most probably belongs to the family of the Spingidae.
It is rather large for European standards, about 6 cm long.
I was so lucky to be able to observe it the whole day long, as it stayed immobile with an aspect of a Sphinx.
What a lovely moth. It is the Lime Hawk (Mimas tiliae) http://www.hlasek.com/mimas_tiliae_4381.html
http://webhost.ua.ac.be/vve/Checklists/Lepidoptera/Sphingidae/Mtiliae.htm
Kennedyh, thank you so much ! It is definitely this one !
Oh my .. that one, is a mitey gorgeous moth, bonitin! And a fantastic shot also!!
There were a couple that were most similar .. that I found on some sites for the USA; but never matched him up 100%, understandably so. (hee)
Sure glad that kennedyh came thru for you, and so quickly too. (as he/Ken usually does).
A wonderful bonus to all of us ...
- Magpye
