Hummingbird moth

This poor guy (Daphnis nerii) was at the end of his life. So although it was sad to see, I was able to get a shot of him very close up and very still. Because he was so close to the end though, his wings weren't open fully. But you can definitely see how lovely the colors of his wings are. The limitations of digital photos and then saving to the computer etc have diluted the pink in the wings (in the area that looks like a straight white-ish line from right to left across him in the center portion...it looks beige-ish here, but the bottom section of that area nearest the darg green part is much more pink than this). He is just gorgeous and I felt honoured to be so close to him yet very sad to see such a lovely creature on the verge of death.

-Julie

edited to add the scientific name

This message was edited Sep 26, 2004 5:14 PM

Very beautiful. Thank you for posting a picture.
-seedpicker_TX

Bet he had a good life! Thanks Julie.

hi julie, i wonder if this moth is in the sphinx moth family. this summer we had several in the yard when the oriental lilies were blooming. i thought at first they were hummingbirds but a friend who was over for a BBQ informed me differently and i logged on and did a search for sphinx moth. as i suspected a moth that large must produce a large caterpillar - the green horned tomatoe worm.
the moths are very beautiful, next spring i will have to keep an eye on my tomatoes.
deidre

Deidre,

The common name for this one is the Oleander Hawk Moth. Here's a link: http://www.leps.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/DaphnNerii.htm

Hummingbird Moth/Sphinx Moth/Hawk Moth are just different names for moths in the Sphingidae family. It gets these names for "its hovering, swift flight patterns". http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/jan/papr/sphinx.html

Hope this helps.

-Julie