Things That Go Zoom In The Night ......

From sundown until 9 AM or so the scent outside is heavenly with 17 brugs in bloom!! We went out last at night last week to take pictures and inhale deeply, but something like a BIG BumbleBee and I startled each other, then he got very aggressive. I just moved on to other brugs, but then I almost stuck my nose up a flower while another one was inside it. Fortunately, I felt the vibration of the bloom as I tilted it to my face.

We looked around and saw many of these things charging the blooms. when I tried to take pictures, the flash ticked them off and several came diving after me, which sent me straight into the house and Bob (DH) followed. I had to search the Internet to see just exactly what they were. They are Hummingbird Hawk Moths also called Bumblebee Hawk Moth. Don't let the word Moth mislead you, I think they could get as aggressive as some Hummingbirds do. lol lol

Judy
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Here is a link to Google Images of this critter....
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2006-01%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=hummingbird+hawk+moth&btnG=Search

Absolutely gorgeous blooms Judy, but that moth attack episode sounds scary. I've seen those before and not known what it was.

I want to go back out now to take pictures but I'm going to make sure they aren't around before I start taking pictures with the flash. lol lol

They are really neat to watch at dusk. They hover and sound like a hummingbird. They are also attracted to the crinum blooms earlier in the summer. I was amazed to learn that they are what the tomato hornworm grows up to be... If you don't like bugs, I don't think they will harm you. Are probably drawn to the flash.

wow. They're really that aggressive? I had no clue. My daughter was handling them and they'd actually stay on her hand for a while last summer. Argh, maybe next year I'll handle things much differently!!

They are enjoying your Brugs!!
Also propagating for you!!
Hopefully you will end up with pods from them checking out your blooms!!
You have some beauties, they should make nice babies!!
Bonnie

indiana_lily - the flash of the camera on a very dark night was what ticked them off. I turned tail and ran.

I went out to take pictures just now but I couldn't look out for the moths, dodge the cat who kept crossing my path in an attempt to rub against my legs and the "stray dogs (3) who came to stay" acting like fools thinking the camera was a cheeseburger. I need to concentrate when I take pictures and it's not easy with all the commotion. I'm going to try again early, early in the morning when there is enough light for me to see where I'm stepping. lol lol

This message was edited Oct 8, 2006 7:34 PM

Bonnie,

Have you seen them? They slam into the bloom causing it to shake, so I know they must be covered with pollen when they go on to the next one.

Judy

Speaking of seed pods, I had a seedling produce pitiful looking blooms so I had her flagged to go to the trash pile, evidently they visited her because she has seed pods forming... what to do, what to do.

Judy

LOL, Judy, truly, you put a smile on my face when I read that, because it's just soooo much, and a lot like my place Ok, I don't have the 3 stray dogs, but we have the neighborhood outside cats that must know what's going on at every moment. And, then to be freaked by a moth, I completely understand. I get that way in the daytime!!

I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but it was such a cute picture you painted. :)

It is funny, I'm just glad none of the Bullies were out there in the middle of all of that, but maybe that would have been better. Mr Cat loves to rub on Kate, one of my old girls, so that would have gotten him away from me, but Ms Kitty would have probably taken his place. The cats were from a feral cat who had them under the porch. We live out in the country so we have a zoo. At times I can't walk for all the critters.

Judy

Wow! Judy, gorgeous blooms there.. but that white is majorly beautimous! Sorry to hear you were attacked by the kamakazi moths. Giving hummers a bad name, aren't they! Don't blame you for waiting until the morning. I'm looking forward to seeing more pics. Thanks.

Barb

Barb, you are too funny! "Kamakazi moths!!!" Thanks for that laugh and smile on my face.
I'm sorry, I'm just imaging a wildlife haven at your place, Judy. :)

It's critter heaven......

These guys hang around the house area kinda like dogs but they never have bothered any of my plants. This picture was taken 2 days ago. We like our deer and in the winter when it gets real cold I feed them and all the other wild critters "feed bread" from the bakery outlet store.

The mother brought this baby out for us to see a few days after it was born. Whenever Bob starts calling them, it's his nature to try to tame everything, I have to remind him that he will get them killed if they become too friendly.

They were in the front yard, about 20 feet from the porch, eating acorns when Bob took these pictures.

Judy

Barb,

The white is Snow Cone and the orange is Solid Gold

Judy

Hey! That looks like the moth I got a picture of and it scared the bigeezez out of me cause it came at me when it saw the flash! It would come visit my Cleome every night.. Here is a pic of it.

I'm sorry Judy.. I forgot to mention how beautiful your picture is.. Not only to view, but to dream of that wonderful scent! I got so excited about the moth I forgot about the subject. LOL I thought I was exagerating when I described that moth to my best friend.. LOL

ZZsBabiez

I'm so proud of you for having gotten a picture. I'm such a "chickie" I ran for cover. That's it, can you imagine 5 or 6, I didn't stop to count, of those things diving at you.

I think the name "Bumble Bee Hawk Moth" is best.

Judy

Well Judy you sure do have a lot of blooms there! I don't doubt your garden smells heavenly in the evening.
Those moths are so amazing. Every so often I get freaked out and think bats are buzzing around me in the evening.
I had a great laugh reading your adventure with them!!!!
P.S. Don't let them get into your Hair......
Chuckle Chuckle

That's it, no more night picture taking unless Bob (DH) will come with me. Look what I took a picture of last night .. what is that!!!

Kin can you help me out here since you like playing around with the camera at night. I forgot to pull up the little hood over the flash so needless to say the ones I took before I notice it were too dark including this one.

LOL Judy
My first guess is that Bob had a glow stick and was directing your moths in for a safe landing! LOL
My guess is that the shutter was open for awhile and you caught a fire fly in flight.
OR
Some type of light and you were moving the camera while the shutter was open.

Sure is strange looking.

Enjoyed your pics Judy. We have had a few of those beautiful moths, but I never get pods, so nobody is helping pollinate, I have tried many, many times, with only one taking, VO x Aurea Pink. In three yrs. two plants from those seeds have never bloomed, so they are getting tossed this year.

Neat pic, Judy! I thought it could be a time-lapse pic of an indecisive firefly. LOL Kin.. glo stick indeed. ;)
Thanks for the ID on the blooms, Judy. I tried to find the parentage of SnoCone on one of the "other" sites but came up with zilch. Guess it doesn't matter who it's momma or daddy was. I like the looks of it.
Those two critters are cute, for sure, but I'm thankful they are in your yard and not mine. I fell in love with a small doe who showed up a couple of weeks ago.. until she ate every single leaf off two of my roses. NOT good! I heard gunshots the following two evenings and she hasn't come back. Country living can be both good and bad.
Hope you'll post more pics of your beauties today.

Barb

Well Judy, there was only one coming to my house... It seemed to get used to the flash and ignore it after a few flashes... I just click and duck.. LOL I'm a chicken too, if there was more than one, I'd probably take pics from inside!!! LOL

Lots of pretty blooms Judy and I have no doubt the scent was heavenly in your yard. I also have the hummingbird moths but they prefer my big white moonvine flowers to the brugs. Right at dusk they start coming and I love watching them work.

Yall I think they have pollinated every bloom out there. You know how normally the flower drops off then a week or so later the stem turns yellow and they drop? Well very few have dropped and on some I can feel the pod has formed. One seeedling that I have marked to toss becase the blooms were white and of no interest, is now forming seed pods.

I'll find a picture of the ugly white and post it later.. now the one picture of Pink Beauty I got before they chased me away.

Here she is with the early morning sun shining through her.

Sitting on the ground shooting up. The plant is 7-8 ft tall and has lost a lot of leaves to mites & drought

Straight on shot

That's frosty behind her.

This message was edited Oct 9, 2006 12:11 PM

Those moths sure look like the "parents" of Tobacco Hornworms. And if they are, the caterpillars can defoliate a plant overnight. They're almost identical to tomato hornworms. They are important for pollenating deep-throated flowers and night bloomers...but watch out for the caterpillars....just thought I'd give you a heads up!
Sandi

Oh Mercy!! If they stay around here after the pollen is gone, there will be enough caterpillars to eat up everything!! They have polliated almost every bloom. There are tiny pods hanging everywhere, but they won't have time to mature before they must be trimmed up for cuttings and to bring in for the winter. Oh well just what the brug community needs hundreds of Frosty x unknown, CGxunknown, etc lol lol

Thanks for the information

Judy