Different types of hummingbird moths. They fly and move just like hummingbirds. With the hummingbird moth in the top picture the titan moth aellopos titan as a prime example. There are several types of hummingbird moths including the snowberry clearwing hummingbird moth the tersa sphinx hummingbird moth and the white lined sphinx hummingbird moth and perhaps over 100 more. Photo by carl pelzel.
Hummingbird moths are distinctly smaller than hummingbirds averaging only 1 to 2 inches in body length compared to the more common 3 to 4 inches of most hummingbirdsat first inexperienced birders may assume that hummingbird moths are baby hummingbirds. Perhaps one of the most delightful insect visitors to your garden is the hummingbird moth. Snowberry clearwing moth hemaris diffinis. Several species of the genus hemaris deserve this name and for very good reason.
It feeds through a proboscis a long straw like tube kept curled under the head when not in use. Baby hummingbirds however cannot fly and do not leave their nests until they are nearly adult size. Well as with hummingbirds themselves there are different species of hummingbird moths as well more on that later. Hummingbird moth diversity translates into their occupying a.
How close is a hummingbird moth to an actual hummingbird. Hummingbird moths also come from other sphinx moth genera. The white lined sphinx moth hyles lineata in the picture provides another example of hummingbird moth diversity and color. However all these species have many things in common which is why they are all called hummingbird moths after all.
7 different types of moths that will surprise you.