Tricked by a Macroglossum Stellatarum

This weekend, Mia, my folks, and I went to a flower show in Perugia. The show itself was nice and had plants from all over the world, including an extensive collection of citrus trees that seemed local, and orchids and carnivorous plants from around the world. Being unable to take any of the plants with us made the show a little harder to enjoy. We did, however, see what seemed to be the smallest hummingbird in the world! Several of them fluttered among the flowers. We were so excited by our sighting we told everyone, including a friend who informed us the truth about our sighting. We had seen a hummingbird hawk--a creature who cleverly looks, hums, and hovers just like a hummingbird but is nothing more than a weird little moth. I have been duped by nature before, but the discovery was a little disappointing--insects are just not as exciting as animals. You can read more about the Macroglossum here, which is where I also found this photograph.