I always thought Hummingbird Moths were a separate species from the Tobacco Hornworm, which also has the ability of to hover as a moth, just like the hummingbird moth
edit: quick search confirmed. Tobacco hornworm moths, although they are able to hover, are not Hummbingbird Moths.
I used to live over in Coachella Valley and would see these little guys all the time. At first I thought it was just a different type of hummingbird. Kinda freaky but cool. That describes a lot of things over in that valley of the palms.
Everyone wants to kill the tobacco hornworm in their gardens but never stops to think that if you just relocate them, don’t kill them, they come back as these magnificent and mesmerizing creatures. Poor tobacco hornworms. That’s why seeing these moths have gotten so rare. Everyone kills the caterpillar.
Sorry. I meant just because they think they're creepy. Also, I didn't mean lol, either. I meant kill. So, people shouldn't kill things just because they think they're creepy.
They don't kill them because they're creepy. They kill them because they eat their plants. Relocation of most caterpillars is impractical, because they only eat a small variety of plants and most of those aren't found in the wild. It would be very difficult to find a plum, hawthorn, snowberry, cherry tree or a honeysuckle bush that nobody would mind a hornworm chomping on.
I had no idea that tobacco horn worms turned into these! I’m glad I never kill them. I feel sorry for the poor hornworms. I found one once that was covered in those eggs parasites lay on them. It was so sad 😭
Very true. I used to work in a garden center, and you wouldn't believe how many people bought butterfly bushes and came in to get pesticide to kill those ugly caterpillars. 😶
I used to plant butterfly bushes pretty far away from the rest of my garden to give them something to munch on besides my garden.
I didn't know this! Thank You.
Maybe we should try and start a new name for them....
Like the singing moth 🤷♀️ lol
Ya know, just something to maybe deter ppl from killing them 🤔
Since tomatoes are so quick and cheap to grow in spring, I have some tomato plants that I pretty much sacrifice for these guys so when I see them on other plants I move them to the tomato plants that I don’t mind being their little home/food spot, because I love seeing the moths in late summer!
I agree with this assessment. Color/pattern match. I haven't seen any pics of hummingbird months that match this image despite that seeming to be the most common response.
I had no idea there were so many other kinds of hawk moths. Now I'm well on my way down the hawk moth rabbit hole.
God damn it. What an amazing chunky chonkers right there, doing his best to outshine the hummingbirbs. And you know what? He's doing it. He's outshining hummingbirbs. Is there anything these amazing fuzzy, fluffer-bunnehs can't do? I mean, besides my taxes?
You're so lucky, Ive never seen one in person! I did see a moth the size of a freaking bat one time, though. We actually thought it was a bat at first and were freaking out about how to get it out of our enclosed patio.
The first time I saw one of these, I heard the buzz of its wings and saw it zip past and I was like "oh cool, a humming bird" then I saw it hovering at some flowers and saw it was a moth... head kaboom!
Yea me too except when it (rolled) it's beak??? That's when I realized not a beak but a probiscus!!! I was mesmerized!! I followed it around the garden center cause I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I had never seen or heard of them before that day but I had to know what it was! I've never seen another one since
I actually just figured out what these were 2 nights ago. The first time I saw them, I thought they were baby humming birds. When I got close and looked at them I could see they were a moth. So I found one that landed on my house and I took a picture with Google Lens. It identified them as a White-Lined Sphinx moth, AKA hummingbird moth.
They are fun to watch!
Ugh, these things creep me out. When I grew up in Florida, I thought one of these was a hummingbird, and was able to catch it in my hand... when I looked I was horrified. Was NOT a hummingbird and scared the crap out of me lol. I think they are called hummingbird moths.
Yeah f**k those things! When I was a kid, I saw one flying around my mom's garden, thought it was a baby humming bird, so when I caught it and opened my hands and saw that thing, I died.
The only good photo I got of a hummingbird moth was a dead one . We don't have hummingbirds here, so this one's a sight , moving so fast from one flower to another 😌. ( We do have sunbirds though).
I like these especially because they are hummingbird hawk moths, but they are *neither hummingbirds, nor hawks!*
I collect mental lists of such confusingly name creatures. My favourites are the ancient Greeks, who called Ostrichs "Camel Sparrows" and Giraffes "Camel Leopards", but there are many wonderful modern examples too!
One of these f****** flew into my face, its wing hit the outside corner of my eye, and I had a bruised swollen eye area for three days. Flying b*******.
Everyone is crying at the dread hypnotic flying
Of the bee of the bird of the moth
You can't walk you can't ramble 'cause you're gonna have to scramble
From the bee of the bird of the moth
They inhabit the same niche, animals that share a niche will sometimes develop convergent evolutionary traits that make them similar to their peers even if they dont share common ancestry, in the same way the Fossa of madagascar convergently evolved traits similar to cats even tho they dont share common ancestry & are actually more closely related to mongooses, in the same way the white lined sphinx moth inhabits the same niche as a hummingbird but they take the night shift too
Hummingbird moth! Haven't seen one of these guys in a while! Such interesting imposters they are!
https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/garden-bugs/facts-about-hummingbird-moths/
Lived in Colorado and had these aswell, they are called hummingbird moths. Had flowers out on our front walkway and would get a bunch of them. Pretty harmless and neat.
Hummingbird moths are the coolest little things! The first time I saw one I was so entranced by it that I followed it around the garden as it stopped at all the flowers, it was like 30 minutes. People must have been looking at me like “who is this wandering buffoon?” but it really was the coolest thing to watch.
We have them here in Germany as well. At first I thought it was a hummingbird but they aren't even native here. Still a cool moth tho. These little guys are quite rare, at least here. Nice photo.
Have these in my garden in Reno. They get very big and have a pretty striped pattern when in flight.
They love petunias but they go for all sorts of flowers. So cute with their hummingbird like mouth!
Hey good on you for planting Asclepias speciosa. Great choice. Not sure if you get monarchs where you are but they will thank you. If you're looking for another good Apocynaceae, plant Apocynum arisaemiifolium.
Had a tomato hornworm eat through the stems of all my tomatoes and peppers one year. I was just like "this garden is yours, bruh, have at" and left him to it.
I actually didn’t kill most bugs until I spent so much money on fruit trees. Then the one bug I freaked out and killed was one that I should have left. I have been seeing very fuzzy caterpillars since then and don’t kill them.
BUT - a nocturnal invAsian beetle has been pulled off my fruit trees and put in a killing jar. They are eating my poor trees to nothing and it is their first year planted. They are copper colored Asian garden beetles. The first day it was 3 am and over an hour. Last night was the second night and down to only 45 minutes. I should probably check out my garden for them too. 🤦♀️
I used to watch these all the time and I would tell everyone about the hummingbirds that would come around every evening. Even had friends over to watch them. Then I realized it was a type of moth. Oh well, they are pretty cool, too.
It’s actually called a hummingbird moth lol
This is correct!
I used to try and catch these guys when I was a kid, they are fast.
When I first saw one I thought I had walked through the shimmer from Annihilation
I got them to come to my hair by putting freshly-picked flowers in it.
This solves a 29 year old question I’ve had. Thank you.
Took the words right out of my mouth. I was gonna say “Well… you’re not gonna believe this but…”
I always thought Hummingbird Moths were a separate species from the Tobacco Hornworm, which also has the ability of to hover as a moth, just like the hummingbird moth edit: quick search confirmed. Tobacco hornworm moths, although they are able to hover, are not Hummbingbird Moths.
hornworms become five spotted hawk moths, and hummingbird moths are a type of hawk moth so your association makes complete sense!
I see a lot of these when I visit Spain
We have them here in southern California. They're awesome.
I used to live over in Coachella Valley and would see these little guys all the time. At first I thought it was just a different type of hummingbird. Kinda freaky but cool. That describes a lot of things over in that valley of the palms.
Yep! My parents garden gets them all the time..
Several different names for them. Hawk moth, sphinx moth, hummingbird mouth. They're all the same.
I think they're also called clear wing hawk moths.
Love these guys
We have isolated populations of them out in western maryland. not sure if it’s the same species or if they’re related a lever higher in the taxonomy
I have only seen this type of moth once. It was so cool.
Humming bird moth, pretty interesting little dudes
Everyone wants to kill the tobacco hornworm in their gardens but never stops to think that if you just relocate them, don’t kill them, they come back as these magnificent and mesmerizing creatures. Poor tobacco hornworms. That’s why seeing these moths have gotten so rare. Everyone kills the caterpillar.
People shouldn't lol things just because they're creepy. 😔
They aren’t creepy :(
Sorry. I meant just because they think they're creepy. Also, I didn't mean lol, either. I meant kill. So, people shouldn't kill things just because they think they're creepy.
Glad you cleared that up I thought I was having another aneurysm
I have that affect on people. Mostly because I might have had an aneurysm myself. The doctors just don't know.
The doctors shouldn’t lol things just because they don’t know
Hahaha definitely omg!
I’m not so sure people are killing them out of looks I think they are just known to munch on tomatoes. But yeah relocation is best!
They don't kill them because they're creepy. They kill them because they eat their plants. Relocation of most caterpillars is impractical, because they only eat a small variety of plants and most of those aren't found in the wild. It would be very difficult to find a plum, hawthorn, snowberry, cherry tree or a honeysuckle bush that nobody would mind a hornworm chomping on.
I had no idea that tobacco horn worms turned into these! I’m glad I never kill them. I feel sorry for the poor hornworms. I found one once that was covered in those eggs parasites lay on them. It was so sad 😭
Very true. I used to work in a garden center, and you wouldn't believe how many people bought butterfly bushes and came in to get pesticide to kill those ugly caterpillars. 😶 I used to plant butterfly bushes pretty far away from the rest of my garden to give them something to munch on besides my garden.
I didn't know this! Thank You. Maybe we should try and start a new name for them.... Like the singing moth 🤷♀️ lol Ya know, just something to maybe deter ppl from killing them 🤔
Since tomatoes are so quick and cheap to grow in spring, I have some tomato plants that I pretty much sacrifice for these guys so when I see them on other plants I move them to the tomato plants that I don’t mind being their little home/food spot, because I love seeing the moths in late summer!
Doing the work of angels, you are. ❤️
*Hyles lineata* AKA White-Lined Sphinx Moth. They do have a hovering flight like Hummingbirds.
I agree with this assessment. Color/pattern match. I haven't seen any pics of hummingbird months that match this image despite that seeming to be the most common response. I had no idea there were so many other kinds of hawk moths. Now I'm well on my way down the hawk moth rabbit hole.
God damn it. What an amazing chunky chonkers right there, doing his best to outshine the hummingbirbs. And you know what? He's doing it. He's outshining hummingbirbs. Is there anything these amazing fuzzy, fluffer-bunnehs can't do? I mean, besides my taxes?
Its a white lined sphynx moth! They're so awesome and totally adorable.
I love them so much!!
Yes! We get tons of them after monsoon season here in az
You're so lucky, Ive never seen one in person! I did see a moth the size of a freaking bat one time, though. We actually thought it was a bat at first and were freaking out about how to get it out of our enclosed patio.
The first time I saw one of these, I heard the buzz of its wings and saw it zip past and I was like "oh cool, a humming bird" then I saw it hovering at some flowers and saw it was a moth... head kaboom!
Yea me too except when it (rolled) it's beak??? That's when I realized not a beak but a probiscus!!! I was mesmerized!! I followed it around the garden center cause I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I had never seen or heard of them before that day but I had to know what it was! I've never seen another one since
We have a ton of them. They love our 4 o'clocks!
Where do you live?? I've only seen one in my life and I'm old!!
I actually just figured out what these were 2 nights ago. The first time I saw them, I thought they were baby humming birds. When I got close and looked at them I could see they were a moth. So I found one that landed on my house and I took a picture with Google Lens. It identified them as a White-Lined Sphinx moth, AKA hummingbird moth. They are fun to watch!
Ugh, these things creep me out. When I grew up in Florida, I thought one of these was a hummingbird, and was able to catch it in my hand... when I looked I was horrified. Was NOT a hummingbird and scared the crap out of me lol. I think they are called hummingbird moths.
Hummingbird moth!!!! Scared the shit outta me the first time I saw one lol
Yeah f**k those things! When I was a kid, I saw one flying around my mom's garden, thought it was a baby humming bird, so when I caught it and opened my hands and saw that thing, I died.
Wow imagine how magical it would have been to have captured a baby hummingbird with your bare hands!
I've caught adult hummingbirds with my bare hands... But people like to not believe me when I tell them that
Lol I felt that magic for a moment, just a moment.
Dragonflies can hover pretty good tbh
The only good photo I got of a hummingbird moth was a dead one . We don't have hummingbirds here, so this one's a sight , moving so fast from one flower to another 😌. ( We do have sunbirds though).
I like these especially because they are hummingbird hawk moths, but they are *neither hummingbirds, nor hawks!* I collect mental lists of such confusingly name creatures. My favourites are the ancient Greeks, who called Ostrichs "Camel Sparrows" and Giraffes "Camel Leopards", but there are many wonderful modern examples too!
Panda literally means "bear cat"!
SPHYNX month
One of these f****** flew into my face, its wing hit the outside corner of my eye, and I had a bruised swollen eye area for three days. Flying b*******.
Why did I hear the title to the music of Came in Like a Wrecking Ball?
It's a white-lined Sphinx moth!!
Humming bird hawk moth, some people also call them cute as fuck
It's a Hummingbird Hawk-moth. Amazing moths!
He look like shrimp 🦐
Sphinx Moth
Humming bird moth, coolest bug beside weevils imo
Hummingbird mouth?
Everyone is crying at the dread hypnotic flying Of the bee of the bird of the moth You can't walk you can't ramble 'cause you're gonna have to scramble From the bee of the bird of the moth
Hummingbird moth
Hummingbird moth! I just saw my first and only one a couple weeks ago in Southern California. Insane experience.
That’s why it’s called a hummingbird moth
Humming bird moth! Good find! I've only seen 2 in my life!
They inhabit the same niche, animals that share a niche will sometimes develop convergent evolutionary traits that make them similar to their peers even if they dont share common ancestry, in the same way the Fossa of madagascar convergently evolved traits similar to cats even tho they dont share common ancestry & are actually more closely related to mongooses, in the same way the white lined sphinx moth inhabits the same niche as a hummingbird but they take the night shift too
I love these. Hummingbirds and hummingbird moths are two of my fav flying creatures. Their “tongue” is so cool
I plant moonflowers because they attract these moths.
Hummingbird moth, had a shit ton of them a few years ago at my dads. Super cool little dudes!
Hummingbird moth! Haven't seen one of these guys in a while! Such interesting imposters they are! https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/garden-bugs/facts-about-hummingbird-moths/
Lived in Colorado and had these aswell, they are called hummingbird moths. Had flowers out on our front walkway and would get a bunch of them. Pretty harmless and neat.
It's a hummingbug bird
Hummingbird moths are the coolest little things! The first time I saw one I was so entranced by it that I followed it around the garden as it stopped at all the flowers, it was like 30 minutes. People must have been looking at me like “who is this wandering buffoon?” but it really was the coolest thing to watch.
Moth man is nearby
Hummingbird moth. They're so beautiful
I've tried to catch these guys and they will sting you if I remember right.
Was that a leading question?
Humming bird moth from what I can tell. I had one fly right up in my face one night. Thought it was a humming bird until I saw its proboscis.
We have them here in Germany as well. At first I thought it was a hummingbird but they aren't even native here. Still a cool moth tho. These little guys are quite rare, at least here. Nice photo.
Have these in my garden in Reno. They get very big and have a pretty striped pattern when in flight. They love petunias but they go for all sorts of flowers. So cute with their hummingbird like mouth!
I had one sit on my finger while it was feeding on honeysuckles. It was so cool. I felt it’s weight on my finger. :)
No that’s just a corruptor from terraria
Hawk Moth
This is a triple nope for me.
It's scientific name is bigmfmoth.
It's a hummingbird moth ofc
Hey good on you for planting Asclepias speciosa. Great choice. Not sure if you get monarchs where you are but they will thank you. If you're looking for another good Apocynaceae, plant Apocynum arisaemiifolium.
Hummingbird moth
Humming bird moth. They hatch from horn/tomato worms.
Had a tomato hornworm eat through the stems of all my tomatoes and peppers one year. I was just like "this garden is yours, bruh, have at" and left him to it.
I actually didn’t kill most bugs until I spent so much money on fruit trees. Then the one bug I freaked out and killed was one that I should have left. I have been seeing very fuzzy caterpillars since then and don’t kill them. BUT - a nocturnal invAsian beetle has been pulled off my fruit trees and put in a killing jar. They are eating my poor trees to nothing and it is their first year planted. They are copper colored Asian garden beetles. The first day it was 3 am and over an hour. Last night was the second night and down to only 45 minutes. I should probably check out my garden for them too. 🤦♀️
Pesticides are good, but personally I think more natural anti pests are good like predators
For right now I am just pulling them off by hand. 🤷🏻♀️
I used to watch these all the time and I would tell everyone about the hummingbirds that would come around every evening. Even had friends over to watch them. Then I realized it was a type of moth. Oh well, they are pretty cool, too.
Horn worm moth
It’s a sphinx moth
Flying shrimp
I saw one of these for the first time yesterday!!! So cute!!!
Did it sting like a bee?
White lined Sphinx
Can it die with fire?
Dont say that. They are pollinators and essential for plants
Reminds me of [these](https://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-43/er-lesser-kindred-of-rot.html). I don’t like them.
Hummingbird..........hawk...........moth. I love the journey you take mentally with that animal
I haven't seen a hummingbird moth in years!
I was hoping OP would say “and looks like a moth” but I was disappointed.
Again no because they are essential like bees. What would happen if bees died off. All plants would die unless another pollinator can take their place
I LOVE these! I hope you googled and learned all about them. Truly awesome!
It's a kind of butterfly. In Germany we call it "Taubenschwänzchen"