Hummingbird Moth

[Tess]

These are really cool looking anyone ever see them in their flowers. I do from time to time. First time I saw one I was like WTH? is that? lol they look like a humming bird/ Moth. They are actually a moth and start out as a Caterpillar

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVrKgTRivA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BVrKgTRivA[/ame]

 

[Downwards]

These are really great! Very long lived and great pollinators. But their larvae are the dreaded tomato (or tobacco) hookworms. I always plant an extra tomato so that I can kill the worms on all the tomatoes but one plant. One of those worms will often devour the whole plant, they are voracious!

 

[jamesngalveston]

omg, kill them all....i hate tomato worms....there ugly, and eat my vines.
i love stepping on and seeing how far the juice goes...

 

[Downwards]

James, my chickens devour them with great relish. Stain their faces green with the popped guts, lol. I have heard they can be toxic, but I've never lost a bird mysteriously, and they eat them every chance they get.

The moths are worth one plant though in my opinion. I've read that some species can live 20 years and they are every bit as pretty as hummingbirds IMO.

 

[plowboy]

Ahh yes, the tobacco worm. One of the many problems around here. Last year was abnormally bad. It was hard to find a plant without nibble marks. This year I couldn't find one if my life depended on it.

They look like little aliens.

 

[Tess]

We dont have any bees anymore because of pesticides. I never knew about the Larva until now just how pretty they are when they get to this state. Its sounds ot me like its a catch 22. We need them and we hate them!! Where Im at Iv only seen a few in my life. Never had a problem with them on my tomato's. I dont grow tobacco and the people that used to grow it around me have been forced to stop. Even our tobacco base was bought out by the government. So Im for the 25 years of pollination we get from them!! lol

 

[LoneStarLori]

I saw one in my yard for the first time about 6 months ago. At first I thought it was a tiny hummingbird. Then a dragon fly. So I Googled it and was really surprised to find it was a moth. They are pretty big for a moth. They didn't affect my tomatoes at all this year. But then again, I haven't seen the worm before.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

That is a Sphinx moth, not a hummingbird clearwing mothm this is a hummingbird clearwing, they eat japanese honeysuckle as cats so they are very well fed and they love our flowers. We have some others on our webpage as well. Nothing like getting a digital camera to make you start to really pay attention to what is out there. WVMJ

http://wvmjack.com/WVMountaineerJack/Moths/HCW3.jpg

 

[Downwards]

Wow that one is beautiful! You remind me though of the "common name" problem in biology. Out here they are commonly called hummingbird moths, and that's the reason why we need Latin, I guess!