I took the doggie out the other evening and then something hummingbird sized was whirring around me...I figured it was a moth so I grabbed my camera.....it was! The eyes are so cool...they catch the light like a cat's!
Great photograph of a Hummingbird Hawk Moth!!!! You're spot on - they are the size of a hummingbird and many people actually mistake them for the birds themselves if they are seen in the garden during daylight. They hover with rapid wingbeats in the same way the birds do to feed and when they dip their proboscis into a bloom it is often mistaken for a beak.
Oh, we love these dudes. We plant moonvines on the pergola so we can watch them from inside. They are one of the few things that can feed on the angel trumpets. We look for brown dust in them and know these great moths are in the neighborhood. :-D
I have these large beauties too. Thanks for the ID. They visit the white and the lavender moon vine blooms, the daturas and the 4 o'clocks every evening. I really enjoy watching them enjoy the blooms too.
How cool! Are these the guys that come from those nasty Tomato Hornworms? I've given a tomato plant to one of those this year. And they come out at night?
Yes, the Tomato Hornworm becomes the Five-Spotted Hawk Moth, the one hummingbird's picture.The yellow spots on the body are what gives this one it's name of Five-Spotted Hawk Moth. The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is a different moth, it has orange on it's wings and doesn't have the yellow spots on it's body.
