ホシホウジャク

雨上がりのアベリアの花でホシホウジャクが吸蜜していました。羽根はすり切れてボロボロ、でもしっかり飛んで蜜を求めています。9月になり朝晩冷え込む日もあります。9月のはじめ、多い日には20羽を数えたホシホウジャクも、今日はこの1匹になってしまいました。今産み付けられた卵は冬をサナギで越して来年の春に成虫になるでしょう。命をつなぐ営みの一コマです。

A Hoshihoujaku hawkmoth (Macroglossum pyrrhosticta) was nectaring on an Abelia flower after the rain, its wings worn and tattered, but it was still flying nimbly and ardently seeking nectar. It's now September and the mornings and evenings are getting chilly. Today there was only one hawkmoth around, while more than 20 visited at a time in early September. The eggs laid now will survive the winter as pupae and become adults next spring. This one is engaged in one of the million-year old rituals of passing down life from one generation to another.

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Photo taken 2021-09-19