What hovers like a hummingbird, flies like a hummingbird but has antennae? A hummingbird moth. Aptly named, hummingbird moths can easily be mistaken for hummingbirds but they are a sphinx moth.
Sphinx moths are one of the few groups of insects that can hover. Since a few species resemble hummingbirds and are active during the day (unlike most moths) they are commonly referred to as hummingbird moths.
Some of the more common hummingbird moths include the white-lined sphinx, snowberry clearwing and hummingbird clearwing.
Sphinx moths received their name from the sphinx-like posture of the larvae when they are disturbed.
The caterpillars are commonly green with a horn on their rear end. Like other caterpillar species, hummingbird moth caterpillars live on host plants such as honeysuckle, hawthorns, viburnum, black cherry, dogbane and plums.
Once fully grown, the caterpillars drop to the ground and spin a cocoon. Hidden in the leaf litter, the caterpillar pupates within the cocoon. In the north, the pupa stays in the cocoon over winter and the adult emerges in the spring to feed and lay eggs on the host plants.
Like most butterflies and moths, hummingbird moths feed on nectar from plants such as honeysuckle, red clover, thistles, wild roses, blackberries, columbines, larkspurs, petunias and lilacs.
When a hummingbird moth arrives at a flower, it uncoils it proboscis (its long, thin, needle-like mouthpart) like a party noisemaker to reach the nectar deep inside the tubes of flowers. The proboscis often is as long as or longer than the moth’s body. When done, the moth coils its proboscis back under its chin as it flits to the next flower. Like hummingbirds and other butterflies, the hummingbird moth is a helpful pollinator for many flowers.
One distinguishing characteristic of hummingbird moths from hummingbirds is that they sometimes land on a flower while feeding which is a good clue it isn’t a hummingbird. Hummingbird moths also allow you to approach closer than hummingbirds and they don’t zip away at lightning speed like hummingbirds either.
However, hummingbird moths are strong fliers with rapid wing beats which creates a humming sound similar to hummingbirds.
If being mistaken for a hummingbird isn’t enough, the snowberry clearwing is also mistaken for a bumblebee because of the black and yellow bands on its body. The hummingbird clearwing has an light brown thorax and a chestnut abdomen. The white-lined sphinx has a broad white stripe running diagonally across its wings and a pink coloration on its hind wings that is seen when flying.
Like all moths and butterflies, the wings of hummingbird moths are covered with scales. However, the aptly named clearwing hummingbird moths have clear patches on their wings. The clearwing moths have fully-covered wings initially but they lose some of the scales in designated areas to create the clear patches.
While slightly smaller than hummingbirds with wingspans between two and four inches, hummingbird moths often elicit a double-take as they hover at a flower with antennae sticking out.
Thank you Ashley Glaza for the photos!
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June 27 2016. I get a lot of Anne hum8ngbirds at my feeder but I seen a strange one. When I looked it up it turned out to be a hummingbird moth. I am in northern California.
I just saw one of these in my backyard in Bellevue, Idaho, drinking nectar from our bee balms. Really cool.
Beautiful large sphinx humminbird moth feasting on bee balm in Sun Valley, Idaho. What a treat to watch it!
Had a hummingbird moth on some yellow ground cover plant in May 2107
Got a visitor on august 15 2018, I thought it was a hummingbird and I googled what this thing was and I guess we learn everyday of something new, we live in Berens River Manitoba Canada
I had just spied this cool looking insect in my front yard and I live in Winnipeg, MB!
I had 9 of the sphinx hummingbird moths on my phlox last night at dusk. They are amazing. The cat was trying to catch of of these large moths so I put him to bed. We are located in Lewiston Idaho.
I found one of these hummingbird moths in my cactus patch while weeding in Nampa, Idaho. June of 2020. Never seen one before. They are beautiful. I thought it was a hummingbird at first, but couldn’t see the stinger.
Thanks for sharing!
Laura
We have them a lot here in Grand View Idaho. A few years back I saw one on the ground so I was going to pick it to see if it was okay and it rolled over to it’s back and spewed something out. Defence mechanism maybe…?
I have had several feeding from my flowering plants this year…I live in Wilder, an Idaho native, and have only seen these little critters on rare occasions. This year has been different…I have my regular hummingbirds that i enjoy, but have also been enjoying watching theses guys too!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Laura
I’ve never heard of these creatures, then this morning while having my coffee in my yard, I had a visitor…. I live in central Alberta
I just seen a moth that looked like a hummingbird! I was super excited, then found out it was a type of moth. It was Peru neat to watch it go from flowerb to flower. They we’re mandivillas. I really want hummingbirds to come to my yard.