never saw this before-

[Buffalo Bif]

Came across this on a web search- had to share. Its a hawk moth- anybody seen one live? Not sure where they're from- did not get past the picture.

[Paul_Guraedy]

Re: never saw this before-

Brian, the hawk moths and sphinx moths are in the same family. Yours is a lacewing hawk moth. We get a large variety of both types here in the Ozarks. The most spectacular is the pink winged sphinx moth. The caterpillars feed primarily on paw paw leaves (luckily we have a large supply) and the moth can reach about 5 inches in wing span. Beautiful.

[decoysales]

Re: never saw this before-

Brian
Thanks for posting the picture. That would make a neat carving and Paul you been holding out on us. If you come across some of the ones you are talking about try taking a couple pictures for us to see.

[Buffalo Bif]

Re: never saw this before-

I did a quick search for hawk moth (too much bs on the web- needed verification) There's a slew of them and many have wild patterns and colors to them. I'm in awe, and I'm jealous of you Paul for seeing them live. I'm aware of similar coloring & patterns in tropical fish, moths are news to me. What a wonderful world we live in. think I'll skip the news tonight.

Rafton, if you carve & paint one you'll prolly need proof of existence to make people believe you didn't dream it up.

[Merle Rice]

Re: never saw this before-

Hi Paul, does this Hawk Moth fly like a Humming Bird, if so I've had some here in Maryland. I've seen them the size of a Humming Bird and they fly like a Humming Bird. Maybe a Humming Bird Moth, Maybe a different Species. Merle

[Paul_Guraedy]

Re: never saw this before-

Yes, they fly like hummers and in fact some of them are called hummingbird moths. Pictures of the ones we get here are a problem as these are late evening and night feeders. We had a number of potted flowering plants on the porch last summer and saw them fairly often. This year the only plants on the porch are herbs.

The big moths are amazing. They hover over the plants like hummers. But, where the hummer moves in close these moths have a very long probiscus and use that to extract the nectar from several inches away. My daughter-in-law is fascinated by them and loves taking pics. I will ask her to watch and see if she can get a photo.

Speaking of interesting carvings. I was at the Mt. Home show last weekend. There is a carver there who has carved a number of tumble bugs. One carving is two of the bugs rolling a ball. Interesting conversation when someone asks what they are doing. He says rolling food to a hole where they can lay eggs and feed the larvae. Invariably some ones asks, "What is the food?"

[Sean R]

Re: never saw this before-

That is a beautiful moth. Nature is truly amazing!

[Buffalo Bif]

Re: never saw this before-

suspect tumblebug food comes from the south end of a north-bound animal.....

[BullRunBear]

Re: never saw this before-

I see them once in a while here in Virginia. They are called hummingbird moths around here. The first time I saw one I thought it was a mutant hummingbird. They seem to be attracted to honeysuckle and wisteria blooms. Fascinating creatures.

[sappy]

Re: never saw this before-

Brian, I don't know the range of these moths, but we do have them in Idaho and I have seen them in Washington as well. However, seeing them is uncommon. But I will be watching for them now as I am also taking part in the Bumble Bee count our area is doing. Seems Bumble Bees are declining.

[Brian T]

Re: never saw this before-

We have lots of "hummingbird moths" or Sphinx moths here.
Some years, lots of Luna (pale mint green, long tails), Cecropia (all browns & creams with a red&white striped body/abdomen) and Polyphemus moths (Polyphemus was a one-eyed Cyclops from Homer's Oddessy) the moths have big transparent eyespots in the wings.
Big as a small bat, big as your hand. You think a grasshopper makes a high speed mess on your car windshield. . . . . . .

[GregGerard]

Re: never saw this before-

Stiff dead ones will still glide like paper airplanes.