Gardening

beac

(9,992 posts) Fri Jul 6, 2012, 06:45 PM Jul 2012

UPDATE!!----Flies like a humming bird, looks like a bee! [View all]

Last edited Sun Jul 8, 2012, 09:10 PM - Edit history (1)

UPDATE in separate post below
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Actually, I thought "ZOMG, it's a fuzzy flying lobster!" but most people apparently see the hummingbird-bee resemblance.

Turns out, it's a "hummingbird moth." I'd never seen one before and while it hung around long enough for me to go grab my camera, once I turned it on him he bum-rushed the lens and flew off. Subsequent attempts at digital capture resulted in same.

Luckily, the interwebs provided:

(and LOL that the person that took this picture also thought "lobster!" http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=novembergale&number=214 )

Apparently they are known for their love of phlox and it was indeed on such a flower that I spied him.

Definitely one of the craziest flying things I've ever seen in the garden.

And unusual creatures flitting about your place this year?

38 replies

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UPDATE!!----Flies like a humming bird, looks like a bee! [View all] beac Jul 2012 OP

Unusual creatures flitting about my place this year? Denninmi Jul 2012 #1

LOL. beac Jul 2012 #14

You spied "him" on a phlox? Beartracks Jul 2012 #2

Actually, I guessed, but it turns out I was right! beac Jul 2012 #3

Been doing some more reading on these creatures... beac Jul 2012 #4

Great picture, and I wasn't aware of such a moth. dmosh42 Jul 2012 #5

I saw one a few evenings ago. Ednahilda Jul 2012 #6

I always associate moths with evening and night spottings too. beac Jul 2012 #15

I was in the house watching something on PBS Ednahilda Jul 2012 #17

I don't blame those bees for being furious. beac Jul 2012 #18

Well, now I'm stumped. Several years ago I was in Montreaux, Switzerland hedgehog Jul 2012 #7

Some other species of Sphinx moth. Denninmi Jul 2012 #8

It must have been a sphinx moth. It was about the size of a bumble bee, hedgehog Jul 2012 #9

Yours sounds tinier than the one I saw. beac Jul 2012 #13

+1 some Peeps think they are humming birds, but they are sphinx moths! n/t hue Jul 2012 #11

That's cool and definitely looks like a hummingbird-lobster GMO experiment gone bad. Gormy Cuss Jul 2012 #10

Yikes! I just about shrieked seeing it behind the safety of my computer screen. beac Jul 2012 #12

They taste like chicken. alfredo Jul 2012 #19

Beautiful! I knew about them. Would love to see one in person. Solly Mack Jul 2012 #16

Seen them in Arizona and I know they're here in Texas and they also spin tussah silk. marble falls Jul 2012 #20

Looks more like a flying shrimp to me. obxhead Jul 2012 #21

Shrimp is certainly a better match to its size. beac Jul 2012 #25

unusual creatures flitting about ? Plucketeer Jul 2012 #22

We only have ruby-throated hummingbirds here, but they beac Jul 2012 #23

UPDATE: beac Jul 2012 #24

wow! Skittles Jul 2012 #26

Another shot of her: beac Jul 2012 #27

she's a beaut! Skittles Jul 2012 #31

The "female of the species" may or may not be "more deadly than the male" beac Jul 2012 #32

LOL Skittles Jul 2012 #33

It's a hummingbird moth. They aren't that uncommon. It's just uncommon to see one. HopeHoops Jul 2012 #28

And I never have before, but now I am seeing one every day. beac Jul 2012 #29

Consider yourself lucky. They pollinate quite well. HopeHoops Jul 2012 #30

Flies like a humming bird, looks like a bee? Possibly Muhammad Ali? NeedleCast Jul 2012 #34

Yay, somebody got my veiled reference! beac Jul 2012 #35

The offspring are the great tomato hornworms. BlueToTheBone Jul 2012 #36

Interesting... TuxedoKat Aug 2012 #37

We've had them here. Lugnut Aug 2012 #38