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Hummingbird moth

I love all kinds of flying things: birds, bats, dragonflies, damselflies, hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths. This one is a beauty:

At first, we thought it was a superfast bumble bee or small hummingbird when it zoomed past us. It is a hummingbird moth, or Nessus Sphinx, Amphion nessus. These photos were the best of a dozen I took; most of them were too blurry for the wing markings to be visible.

And just like the butterflies, it LOVES lantana flowers!

Robin Rogers, Realtor, Broker-owner, ABR, TRC, CRS

Also Cat Owner, Photographer, Smartass, Aspiring World-Class Drummer

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Posted by Robin Rogers, CRS: fun and professional real estate agent and investment adviser on 12/12/2007 05:04 PM

Comments (18)

hummingbird moth, sphinx moth

18 Comments on Hummingbird moth

DEC

2007

Hi Robin! Love your photos. I'm a fan of all things outdoors. I live in Oregon on the coast and am so amazed that hummingbirds winter here, mild though the winters are. When hiking our coastal forest, I enjoy finding banana slugs and newts and lobster mushrooms. What a world we live in. Thanks for your post.

I'm a newbie to Active Rain and so enjoying everything about the group.

Hope in Florence, OR

Nice Shot!! Thanks for sharing, I love hummingbird anything!

Amazing photos! We had them here a few years ago, and they were amazing. I never knew they existed before that. Fun - Thanks for sharing>

That's very cool, I'm going to share this with my grandkids.

Hummingbird Moths are fascinating, but my personal favorite is the Luna Moth; mysterious and beautiful.

Hi, Hope:

"Banana slugs" and "lobster mushrooms"?! Wow. I guess some creatures can only be described with the names of other creatures that they resemble.

Welcome to Active Rain! You can learn stuff AND have fun here. Kinda like Sesame Street for real estate.

Cheers,

Robin

I had never heard of a hummingbird moth before, neat photos of yours!

Hi, Fran:

Did you see my hummingbird show in the previous blog post? I had up to 12 of them visiting three feeders for a couple of weeks in late August. The count is usually 3, now down to the lone female.

They're pretty cool customers. If you just sit or stand still for a while, they will hover in front of you and check you out, and then head right over to the feeder.

Cheers,

Robin

Hi, David / Terrilynn / Rosario / Deborah:

Here is a website with some gorgeous photos of hummingbird moths and information about them:

http://whatsthatbug.com/clearwing_moth.html

There's even one of "my" hummingbird moth--perched on a lantana flower, of course!

Luna moths are indeed beautiful. Moths are usually more subtly colored (not to say drab) than butterflies, but the Luna is an exception.

Cheers,

Robin

Great photos, thanks for sharing! Now I'm gonna watch for these on my Lantanas.

Hey, Ricki:

You gotta have fast eyes--these guys are quick!

Cheers,

Robin

You no what is enen more amazing about most of these large moths? Unlike humming birds their wings make hardly any noise at all. It is o strange watching them move silently through our gardens in the evenings. Great photos.

DEC

2007

Thanks, Trey! You're right--they're surprisingly quiet.

Cheers,

Robin

JAN

2008

Hey Robin - I'm a little behind on my comment but better late then not at all. Your pictures are great; we'll have to watch for some this spring. Thanks for sharing and hope you have a good 2008.

Carl

Hill Country Inspector

JAN

2008

Hi, Carl:

Thanks for stopping by. I will keep my eyes open for hummingbird moths among other pretty things that will soon be appearing in my garden!

Cheers,

Robin

JAN

2008

Robin:

Great pictures, Truly amazing, I love to watch nature. Thanks for sharing.

FEB

2008

Hi Robin, I wanted to say hi, and hope we can start helping each other on AR. The title caught my attention, since I also have a great picture of these little beauties. Saw my fist one at my lake house on lake Limestone, and did not know what it was? Have been in TX my whole life...so of course off I go to google, and there it was, and they are common. Amazing what we miss by not paying closer attention. Look forward to getting to know you better, and hopefully we can help each other on AR, and with referrals. There is always a lot of movement between Houston/Katy and San Antonio. Liz

Thanks, Alan! Glad you liked the pix.

And thanks, too, Liz--the distance does seem to be shorter now between Houston and San Antonio. I have a couple of clients looking to return to San Antonio (actually Canyon Lake) from the Woodlands when they retire in a couple of years.

I'll stop by your blog,

Robin

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