Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Very common. We have a butterfly bush where I work and I've seen the little things there very often. I actually had to go look the first time this year because it was a very large hummingbird moth.
If you've got tomatoes or datura you can probably find the hummingbird moth caterpillars. They're pretty big, maybe 3 inches long, and bright green. They have what looks like (but isn't) a stinger on their rear.
I see them all the time in my garden. It's funny to me that people mistake it for a hummingbird - especially since birds don't have antennae or a probiscus. The first time I saw one, I mistook it for a bumblebee.
Here are a few photos I took in my garden last year. They are not skittish around people at all, and this one was very easy to get close to.
Here's a shot of a bumblebee on a coneflower, with a hummingbird moth in the background.
I thought they were bumblebees, at first, too. Then tiny hummingbirds. If I'm not mistaken, they make a loud buzzing noise, too, much louder than a bee.
Out here in CA we have them, but you don't see them often.
Back in the late 80's we were in at home with the front door open and something flew in and went down behind the stove. Thought it was a bird or bat (eeeww). A few days later I found it's body (dead) in a potted plant. It was the size of a hummingbird and all gray. I put it in a jar and gave it to my daughter to take to school with her (she was in 4th grade). The teacher told us what it was, I didn't have the internet to look it up on back then (ancient times ). I kept it in the jar and just a few years ago while clearing out some old stuff, I found it. The wings had fallen off but otherwise it was intact. The ones you picture are much prettier.
I saw on TV that down in South America there are butterflies that are the size of parakeets and beautifully colored. They are deep in the rain forest and hardly ever seen. The reporter just happened to see and videotape them live. Amazing.
Look at this site I found. These things are HUGE, If they are around be prepared to DUCK!!!
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). I kept it in the jar and just a few years ago while clearing out some old stuff, I found it. The wings had fallen off but otherwise it was intact. The ones you picture are much prettier.
