#hawk moths

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

If it looks like a hummingbird, and flies like a hummingbird, it might just be a hummingbird hawk-moth! Like their namesake, hummingbird hawk moths can beat their wings incredibly fast- up to 90 times per second! This allows it to hover and perform tight aerial manuvers. In addition, they have a very long proboscis, which allows it to sip nectar from deep-welled flowers that other insects can't access.

(Image: A hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) by Fotis Samaritakis)

[michaelnordeman]

Broad-bordered bee hawk-moth/Hemaris fuciformis/humledagsvärmare. Värmland, Sweden (30 May 2020).

[thedisablednaturalist]

this feels like a silly question but do you know what kind of horn worms they sell at pet stores? I worked at a PetSmart for a while and when the hornworms went into cocoon (chrysalis?) they were no longer fit for sale, so I took some home and raised them into moths, and I'm trying to figure out what I was raising now lmao I was pretty sure they were growing into privet hawk moths now but I'm not sure now

I'd probably have to see a picture but even then it's hard to know until they emerge. I'm still learning moth id especially with larvae and pupae. but all I can say is they emerge into what is colloquially known as "hummingbird moths", which includes the privet hawk moth. I've never worked at a pet smart (or a pet store in general) but I know that they can be pretty vague on specifying what species they carry, especially for feeder or cleaner bugs.

[rbade-art]

[colorsoutofearth]

Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor) in flight

Photo by Stephen Dalton

[geofflewriter]

The History Of Mothing (My Version)

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[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

The moth Xanthopan morgani holds the record for the longest proboscis of any insect, with a length of over 35 cm (14 in) when fully extended. Even more impressive, the existence of this moth’s existence was predicted over 40 years before the first specimen was discovered. After being sent an orchid with a nectary tube over a foot long, naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfered Russel Wallace speculated that only a moth with an equally long proboscis could pollinate it. However, proof of the moth’s existence was only discovered 20 years after Darwin died, and the species was appropriately named Darwin’s Hawk Moth.

(Image: Two specimins of Darwin’s Hawk Moth (Xanthopan morganii) by Joel Minet)

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[dionsysus]

Oleander Hawk Moth.

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