White Lined Sphinx Moth (edited correction)
An insect that looks like a bird.
Thanks to the net I actually know what this insect is called. It was moving about so much it acted like I needed to get out of it's way. It was attacking the phlox with vigor and when I would swing my camera around I could just barely catch it. What ended up being my best shot was one with the whole background also out of focus.
hummingbird moth
(edited later) The net didn't want me to borrow this so it is small and blurry too. Since I confused this with the one above, I will leave it on for informational purposes.
Thanks for stopping by.......
PS The Great Ethan Allen knows his stuff and I am glad I have him on my team. The second photo I pulled off the internet isn't the same as the one I took a picture of. I am really glad he knew his stuff. I know through life I have seen these guys but knew not what they were.
7 comments:
I remember the first time I saw one of these many years ago at my parents house. Like you, I had to google it to see what it was.
Just in the last two weeks, we are seeing so many more hummers and butterflies.
I remember seeing these in Las Vegas and at first thought they were hummingbirds. They are fast and don't seem to stop moving very often.
Ironically, we had one of these moths on the porch just last night, I thought it WAS a Hummingbird until I got a closer look.
You are correct, they are a huge moth !
Neat... I am not sure if I have seen one of these.. very informative!
keep trying Larry..you will get a clear photo one day! :)
Great catch Larry! Ok.. Permit me to show off a bit, but the picture on top is a whilte lined sphinx moth. and the lower pic is one of a hummingbird moth. I know, what kind of snob must I be to be able to tell the differance. But even the blury pics are pretty distinct. The whitelined is larger,( almost hummingbird size!) flys during the day ( instead of night like most moths) and sips the same flowers hummingbirds do. Not the red on the underwing as a key to identifying it. The hummingbird moth is the same size and color of a bummble bee. the color on their wings usually fall off right after they hatch, so they are often clear ( hence the name, clearwing moth) they look more like a bumble bee rather than a hummingbird so I have NO idea why the scientist that named them called them a hummingbird moth instead of a bumblebee moth. In my opinion the white lined sphinx moth looks more like a hummer so it shoudl hold that name. And it probably does among laymen who are not as obsessive obout moths and butters as I am. hehe, Thanks for allowing me to show off!
I've never seen this before.
Post a Comment