This 3 to 4 cm flying insect was looking for nectar in the flowers in our garden in Leiden, the Netherlands. The transparent wings are not visible in the photo. The gray part is the front, the black and white the abdomen.
It looked like a bumblebee, but more elongated and bigger. Never seen before. The photo was taken in haste with my phone.
Answer
Dear Dick,
Thank you for your question. The photo is not immediately very sharp, but I still seem to recognize the contours of a fairly to very rare hummingbird butterfly. For example, you can find more information about it via the following link: http://www. speciesbank.nl/ species.php?waardengroep=insecten&id=1031 and this way you can also verify the photo(s). Quite striking are usually the two orange-brown spots on both sides of the body, at the transition to the wings (which also seem to have a contour in your photo). An item was recently devoted to it on the VTM news here in Belgium: http://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/99291-zeldzaam-bij-ons-de-kolibrievlinder.
Regards,
Marc
Answered by
graduate Marc Peeters
biodiversity
Rue Vautier 29 1000 Brussels
http://www.naturalsciences.be
.