24 SEPTEMBER 1921, Page 15

(To THE EDITOR OP TUE " SPECTA TOR "I Sra,—In

your issue of September 17th you publish a letter from Shepway, Lympne, Kent, asking for information as to an unfamiliar insect. The creature in question is the humming- bird hawk-moth, which has been unusually plentiful this year owing to the hot summer. This insect is a native of the tern. perate zone from England to Japan, the coasts of the Mediter- ranean, and the whole of North Africa. Its caterpillar feeds mostly on bedstraw (galium), and the scientific name of this striking moth is Macroglossa stellatarum.—I am Sir, &c.,