I saw the neatest thing ever the other evening. I was out in the back garden setting up the grill for some steaks and saw what I thought was the tiniest hummingbird I'd ever seen. I then realized there were three of them buzzing around a bed that has blue plumbago in the middle surrounded by melampodium. I came in to get my DH to come see them and as we got closer, I realized they were moths, not birds at all! I've seen one before, but never this early in the evening and three at one time. We tried to get a picture so I could post it here, but the little devils were shy and VERY fast! I just thought this was so neat that I had to share it, even without a pic. It's amazing what you can see in the garden when you pay attention.
Hummingbird Moths
I know excatley how you felt. I too saw one on these moths and thought it was a hummingbird...that is until I was its antennas. After much research on the internet I realized it was a very unique moth. Here is a photo I took of one.
Here's another.
Oh, thank you so much for posting those pics. How on earth did you ever mangage to capture them? They're just so fast, I can barely follow them, much less capture them with a camera lens. I'm impressed with your camera skills, and they're even in focus!
I wonder how many different types of these there are. The three I saw were colored differently from these, but definitely the same critter.
Thanks again for the great pics.
Crow
I love them too. I think their caterpillars may eat tomato plants. Can anyone confirm that?
I understand it is the tomato hornworm... They are neat ~ I see them in June and July on the crinums. Is this not a little late for them ~ even in Houston?
I have several blooming plants in the front of my house that the lights of the car shine on. It is so neat to see their eyes shine like those of animals caught in the light when driving in at night. I sit there and watch those little bright dots go from one flower to another. I was truly amazed the first time I saw them.
Here is a neat site on these moths. There are many different types and colors.
http://whatsthatbug.com/clearwing_moth.html
These moths are a type of sphinx moths. I saw my first sphinx moth hovering around the Brugmansia blooms. They are pollinators for night blooming plants. Given that we are running out of bees, these little guys are very welcome in my garden. I found two very interesting links.
http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/txcentralsph.htm
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/
faancyflea has provided a like to another interesting link.
I have a brug in the same area that must have 200 blooms open on it right now. It's funny because they skipped it and went right to the plumbago. It was such a treat to see three of them at the same time. I'd recently seen one in the front garden too, at the salvia guaranitica. I've been hearing a lot about the loss of bees. Just a week or so ago, saw a special on National Geographic television about how many commercial bee keepers are losing a majority of their bees and they can't figure out what's causing it. They're looking at bacterial and viral infections, but it's like the hives are abandoned and they never see the dead bees. Weird. I have ba-zillions of them in my garden daily; not just honey bees, but all kinds. I've got some really giant fuzzy bumble bee looking ones at the vitex all the time lately; honey bees at the Brug and salvias, and some that I don't recognize at the coral vine. I can't believe so much stuff is still covered in blooms and bees!
I've had bazillions of bees this year too, so I've been wondering about it. We have a big rose of sharon that has ensconced itself right next to the back door. Sometimes we can barely get out the door safely because of all the bumblebees.
When we first moved to the ranch 6 years ago, a hollow in a live oak tree was home to a gigantic bee colony. You could hear the buzz from several hundred feet away. They disappeared about 3 years ago. We last saw them late fall gathering pollen. By early spring the tree was silent. We haven't seen many honeybees this year. While I don't have any use for yellow jackets, they seem to be on a decline also around here, too.
The sphinx moths, or hawk moths can be seen during the day sometime, but mostly they're nocturnal likes Betty has mentioned. I'll share this thread that I've made on my attempt try to raise one of them....with success. :-) And yes, I've brugs' seedpod for the first time in years, now that I've seen these little guys around the garden during the summer. The cats. eats on my Pentas. :-) And, no they're not the same as the green Tomatoes' horn worm, they're a different type of moth, similiar but different.
Kim
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/774042/
This message was edited Nov 16, 2007 10:13 AM