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This beautiful and mysterious creature flew into my house; I gently set him on my deck railing and took this pic while it recuperated from its foray into human territory.
I've never run into this insect before and would love to know what it is.
It almost has an exoskeleton like a grasshopper, but the body shape is that of a moth, but has the colors of a butterfly.
I haven't posted pics before, so hope this works.
Thank you Jack and Steve! You are right- the pictures of Sphinx/Hawk moths look just like the one I saw. I will have to look into them more.
There aren't many things that make me happier than seeing the butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and now hummingbird moths that make use of the garden.
We had a relative of his hatch before our eyes last year. It's chrysalis was in our furled flag on our front porch. the cocoon was a big fuzzy brown thing. So fascinating to watch him hatch.
Thank you Jack and Steve! You are right- the pictures of Sphinx/Hawk moths look just like the one I saw. I will have to look into them more.
There aren't many things that make me happier than seeing the butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and now hummingbird moths that make use of the garden.
I agree, they are neat to see around the garden.
I remember the 1st time I saw a Sphinx moth. I was at night and I had a flashlight on, looking for something in the backyard. My flashlight caught it hovering over a plant and its eyes glowed and looked like something out of a alien movie. Caught me off guard to say the least. I also remember traveling back from California last summer and we stopped at a gas station in Yuma, AZ and there were literally hundreds of them flying all over the place around the gas station lights. Was quite a sight. Guessing they might have hatched or they reside around the Colorado river which is just down the road.
I remember the 1st time I saw a Sphinx moth. I was at night and I had a flashlight on, looking for something in the backyard.
One of the quandaries of having a garden is that tomato hornworms turn into Sphinx moths. The moths are beautiful, but their caterpillar stage can really lower your tomato harvest!
One of the quandaries of having a garden is that tomato hornworms turn into Sphinx moths. The moths are beautiful, but their caterpillar stage can really lower your tomato harvest!
Good point. I've been lucky with tomatoes over the years in that I've had no issues with insects. The only issue I've had were from mockingbirds eating away at some of the tomatoes.
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Caught me off guard to say the least.
I also remember traveling back from California last summer and we stopped at a gas station in Yuma, AZ and there were literally hundreds of them flying all over the place around the gas station lights. Was quite a sight. Guessing they might have hatched or they reside around the Colorado river which is just down the road.
