Sunday, July 15, 2012

Clearwing Sphinx Hummingbird Moth


This little guy was visiting a floral booth during our recent trip to the Waukesha Farmer's Market. At first, someone said, "Oh, no - a wasp!"  Then someone else chimed in, "No, it's a hummingbird!"  But upon further inspection, we realized it was a Clearwing Sphinx Moth, also known as a hummingbird moth. My camera could not quite capture the wings because of their constant high-speed motion, but you can see its long beak-like tongue as it drinks flower nectar (below).  It also has a cousin in these parts called White-Lined Sphinx (or Hawk) Moth.



3 comments:

Judy said...

Bugs should never be that big! We have some like that here too and they hang out around the honeysuckle vines.

Moira said...

These are great pictures! I have never seen one of those before! Thanks for stopping by my blog and for the great comment :)
Shalom,Moira

MJ said...

Thanks for visiting, Moira. By the way - I love your blog... so many interesting and creative ideas!