Silver-striped hawk moth lateral

On a cold winter morning, this beautiful silver-striped hawk moth was a sight to behold. I stayed with it for 25 minutes watching it alternate between being at rest, then vibrating its wings - and what was really great to see was the increased speed by which it did that, as the minutes passed and it gradually became warmer. This pre-flight thermoregulation involves the muscles being contracted to create only a minimal amount of wing movement, which produces as much heat as possible to elevate thoracic temperatures to flight-levels. Eventually, it flew off.

Larvae of Hippotion celerio enjoy grapevine (Vitis sp.) hence the other common name of vine moth. I read that other host plants include Epilobium (willowherb), Fuchsia, Parthenocissus (Virginia creeper) and other related vines such as Cissus.

Seen here on native prostrate Hibbertia sp. Some blur from the highspeed wing vibration can be seen in this lateral shot at the tip of the wings.

Wingspan 6 cm