Many people who have watched this insect hovering in front of a flower as it feeds on nectar, mistakenly believe that they have seen a hummingbird in Britain. The moth unrolls a long tongue which it uses, as a hummingbird uses its beak, to suck nectar from flowers.
Hummingbird hawkmoths, which are about 1 and a half in long and brown and orange in colour, migrate from southern Europe, often flying as far as 100 miles in a day, and arriving from June onwards. Some arrive every year in the south of England, but rarely survive the winter. In good years they spread throughout the British Isles and sometimes they breed here, in which case the caterpillars breed on bedstraw. The new generation of moths either migrates back to Europe or dies in the winter. Eggs are laid on lady's bedstraw and similar plants in July and August. Hummingbird hawkmoths frequent parks and gardens well-stocked with flowers. In some years they are plentiful; in others rare.