UK sightings boom for hummingbird hawk-moths
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- Butterfly Conservation told the Guardian it has seen a big increase in sightings and inquiries about hummingbird hawk-moths in 2026, with recording schemes officer Richard Austin saying "it is going to be a great summer for them" while cautioning it was too early to compare with previous years
- Richard Harrington, honorary fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, said warm southerly winds tied to recent heatwaves likely carried the moths from more southerly climes, and that food plants may also be drying out in their Mediterranean breeding areas
- Luke Burstow, a software project manager from Sussex, photographed one feeding on buddleia on 30 June, describing it as a "grey lump with orange wings" whose wings — beating roughly 80 times per second — still appeared slightly blurry even at a very fast shutter speed
- Ray Barnett of the British Entomological and Natural History Society said sunny weather is keeping more Britons in their gardens, boosting sighting chances, and noted Bristol locals have been actively recording the moth
- Barnett added that if milder winters driven by global warming persist, hibernating adults could survive British winters and reproduce locally, making the species "almost…a resident species rather than a purely migratory species"
- Hummingbird hawk-moths migrate from continental Europe and north Africa and can be spotted across the UK including Northern Ireland and northern Scotland, with larvae feeding on lady's bedstraw and hedge bedstraw, both common UK wildflowers
Why it matters: If warmer winters persist, a species long classified as a seasonal migrant from southern Europe could establish a self-sustaining UK breeding population within years — shifting the hummingbird hawk-moth from a rare garden visitor to a permanent resident with knock-on effects on native wildflower ecosystems.
