Another Moth Visitor
Posted: October 17, 2016 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Backyard Critters, Enyo lugbris, Mournful Sphinx Moth, nature photography, subtropical climate 11 Comments
The Year of the Moth continues in the Automatic Garden. This interesting little guy or gal is not a baby hummingbird as many mistake it for, but a Mournful Sphinx Moth (Enyo lugbris). It hovers over the same flowers that hummingbirds like, but has a long proboscis instead of a beak to feed with.
The wonderful people at the Houston Museum of Natural Science helped again to identify this moth. It was a little tricky and they reached out to two other specialists to get the identification correct.
These photos are actually the best I could get. I followed the Mournful Moth around for quite awhile and took about 30 shots.
I have added this moth to my post All Together that shows off all the moth visitors in the Automatic Garden.
Automatic Gardening & Real Gluten Free Food 
The Moth Queen strikes again. I had a Sphinx Moth on my screen porch and thought about you.
I have never seen so many in just one year. I finally have some butterflies, so all is good.
I have the Hairy Balls Milkweed blooming and maybe one butterfly has been by.
I guess butterflies just go with the wind, sometimes there are lots and other times none.
You managed to take some wonderful photos of them!
Thank you.
Intetesting moth and what is the gorgeous flower?
It is Hummingbird Bush, Hamelia patens.
New to me. It’s lovely.
It is more tropical. It will freeze back even here, but our ground does not freeze hard so it usually comes back from the roots.
Good shots–they’re hard to catch, those rapid fliers. I haven’t seen many this year, though when I’m out in the garden at night, I know they’re around.