White-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata)
I saw a pink and striped hummingbird moth late this evening. This one was much larger than the green and reddish colored ones I saw in the yard for several evenings last month. The picture to the left is kind of blurred, but you can still see the pink color and the stripes on the body and wings. This one was very friendly, and flew and hovered all around me, even almost touching my hand a couple of times. I had on a dark pink tshirt and it seemed to be attracted to that color. I’m definitely going to plant these pink penta flowers again next year– they attract hummingbirds, tons of butterflies and honeybees, and now hummingbird moths! It was almost dark so I didn’t get a chance to take more than these two photos, and I had to use a flash to get these. Both photos are clickable for larger versions. Also, see my newest post (Sept. 2010): Striped Hummingbird Moth for much better and closer photos.
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White-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata)
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Related posts:
Hummingbird Moth Closeup Photos
More Hummingbird Moths in my yard
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I love watching these moths and have seen several this summer, but none like the one you have photographed here. it’s beautiful!
I have been seeing these on other blogs. I’ve never seen one! You did great in low light.
Leeann, I saw this one right at dark and even after dark. It was here today and yesterday also. Look around your butterfly bush very late evening, you may see one of these pink colored ones.
Mary, thanks. I see them quite often here, more this summer than I ever remember. I rarely see them during the day, it’s always very late evening and at night. I usually hear them before I see them — they sound just like a hummingbird in flight, and they come very close to me, closer than a hummingbird usually does. They seem to be drawn to the same types of flowers as hummingbirds. I’m almost positive that they would be in your area too (I’m not all that far from you, and our weather seems to be very similar). Hopefully you will get to see one some time, as they are very pretty and interesting to watch.
[...] posts: Pink and striped hummingbird moth Hummingbird [...]
I saw one at dusk yesterday and other than the antennae, would have sworn I saw a hummingbird! It was not scared and fed on a plumbago bush. I am in Fort Myers, Florida. Where else have they been sighted?
Hi Valeria,
There are many different types of these hummingbird or sphinx moths and I think they’re found all over the US. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a hummingbird too! I always love to see them in my yard.
February 10, 2009
Hobe Sound, Florida (just north of West Palm Beach and Jupiter FL… We saw one of these today. Your photos are great, this one never stopped moving. They are beautiful and funny because ours was on a red penta … we have 4 red and 6 large pink penta plants.
Thanks, Lynn B. They are almost always hard to photograph when they’re *always* moving. :) They do seem to love the pentas. Thanks for commenting.
I see these moths at dusk on a hedge of miniature bottlebrush in my yard. What a beautiful creature.
Simi Valley Ca
Hi Bob,
Yes, they truly are beautiful and fascinating, aren’t they?
Thanks for commenting.
Sherry
THINK WE HAVE JUST FOUND ONE OF THESE MOTHS IN A GARDEN IN BURY ST EDMUNDS, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND
Hi Carol,
That’s great! They are beautiful moths aren’t they?
We saw one tonight near Dallas, Tx, on our petunias. We were sure that we had just seen a new kind of hummingbird. What a beautiful sight.
Hi Caroline,
That’s what I thought when I first saw one too — they look just like little hummingbirds! Yes, they are a beautiful sight.
We HAVE found one in our Garden in Thurleigh, near Bedford in England! We have some good pictures and are currently looking after it untill we decide what to do with it! There is a butterfly park near us and we may take it there. It’s very beautiful! Please reply with any advise, should we just let it go?
Hi Shaun,
I’m not sure. If it were me, I would let it go. I don’t think it will live very long if you don’t. I didn’t realize they were so rarely seen in England. Yes, they are very beautiful! Glad you got some good photos of it.
Spotted in North Vancouver tonight. We’ve had exceptionally high temperatures lately; yesterday was 32C.
We were in our back yard and the honeysuckle, which usually attracts hummingbirds, had this very tiny thing visit, which I assumed was a baby hummingbird.
Until I saw the antennae.
A hummingbird hawk moth apparently.
Biggest ‘moth’ I’ve ever seen, but I guess these are just the words and categories that men like to use to describe the amazing things we find in nature.
Hi sean,
I almost always mistake them for small hummingbirds when I first see them. They are amazing! Thanks for your comments.
I HAD SEEN ONE TONIGHT UP HERE IN GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN. WE HAVE TONS OF PERRENIALS AROUND THE HOUSE ALMOST EVERYONE YOUU CAN HAVE. LOOKED LIKE A HUMMING BIRD TILL HE STARTED FLYING ALL OVER.
Hi Andy, It’s definitely easy to mistake them for hummingbirds at first glance. I haven’t saw any of the pink striped ones this year, but I have been seeing the greenish-yellow colored ones. I watched one on my butterfly bush today. So pretty, aren’t they? Thanks for stopping by. :)
[...] I have seen quite a few of these hummingbird moths in the yard lately, even including some of the night-flying hummingbird moths at dusk. Here’s another day-flying hummingbird moth, the Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris [...]
Just saw one in my pink petunias (Columbus OH). Could not imagine what it was, but your photo is perfect! The cat jumping against the patio door alerted me. I think, judging from kitty, he’s visited me before.
Hi Lin,
Glad my blurry photo helped identify it. :) The night-flying hummingbird moths are so hard to get a good photo of. lol, yes they would definitely get a cat’s attention!
Thanks for commenting,
Sherry
hey i saw one at my friends house and it landed on my arm is that normal?
Hi Kendall, yes, sometimes they are very friendly, especially these striped ones that fly at dusk.
Okay, thanks Sherry!
For the past 2 days we have had 2 around my house and landing on my screen door one was orange stripes and the one tonight is pink striped i love these moths they are so cool. i have gotten them to walk onto my hand a few times and taken pics of them on my hand to give a scale of how big they are
Hi Josh,
They are cool, I love to see them too. How neat that you got one to walk on your hand. Do you have a blog? Those pics would make a great post.
Thanks for commenting,
Sherry
I’m on vacation in new mexico and we saw one when we were eating. It was actually atractted to these dark pink flowers too… I think pink is it’s fav. color :D
Aaron, you may be right. They do seem to be very attracted to pink. :)
I was out weeding my tall pink phlox garden late this afternoon & I have seen a humminbird occassionally out there, but they are very shy. They also make a sound like a motor so I always know they’re there. But tonight I saw one of these little guys & he really confused me. I thought for sure he was a baby hummer, but he made no noise, but his little wings were going so fast. He was just beautiful. He was also friendly and started for my arm, but startled me and I backed up. He spent about 10 minutes on my pink phlox, then I had to come in and look him up. I’m glad I found him on this site. But he’s much too beautiful to be called a moth!!! I’ll have to keep my camera ready & be ready to let him land on me next time.
Hi Cindy,
They surely do love the color pink! They do seem so friendly. Thanks for commenting.
To my delight and long awaited visit I have seen this striped hummingbird moth at night and couldn’t tell what color it is, but it is this one, I’m pretty sure. It is awesome to have it in our neighborhood in Columbus Ohio. I thought about getting the caterpillars and raise them next spring, so we will have more to our area. There are a couple of sites that sell the caterpillars. I would definately let them go and not keep it. It likes my moon flower and the pink and white cleome and I heard they like evening primrose, too!!! Happy hummingbird sightings!!!
Hi Faye,
It is delightful to see them! I saw one this week in my yard also, just posted about it along with some closeup photos:
Striped Hummingbird Moth
Good luck if you do decide to try and raise them.
Sherry
[...] seen these beautiful White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moths (Hyles lineata) many times in my yard at dusk or just after dark. This one was out in the middle of the day though, flitting back and forth in [...]
I saw one of these for the first time last night while watering my petunias just at dark and also thought it was a hummingbird–but very rare looking with all the stripes.
Very interesting…didn’t know we had such things like that way up in Warroad Minnesota.
Hi Debbie,
The first time I saw one, I also thought it was a hummingbird, flying at night! They surely are interesting.
Thanks for posting,
Sherry
[...] Posts: Pink Striped Hummingbird Moth Hummingbird Moth Closeups More Hummingbird Moths In My Yard White-lined Sphinx Moths Snowberry [...]
Well, to our surprise we just discovered these wonderful moths about a week ago on our spider plants. My son went to move a sprinkler and noticed them. We took cameras out last night (7/6/11) and got a lot of pictures. The ones we saw were muted beige, and the body was almost black and yellow/orange striped.
We live in southeastern Pennsylvania, about 40 minutes from Philadelphia.
P.S. I just learned that the ones flying around in our yard are ‘hawkmoths.’ They looked like the ones we saw last night because of their coloring….
Hi Sylmar 6,
They are so pretty aren’t they? I would love to see one with the yellow and orange stripes like the one you mentioned. I love watching them at my flowers during the day, and see them at night as well. Thanks for posting.,
-Sherry
Spotted a pink stripped hummingbird moth 10:00AM at 8200′ in Buena Vista, Colorado September 6, 2011…….
Opps…….I mean “spotted a pink STRIPED hummingbird moth in Buena Vista, Colorado………”
Hi Anonymous,
Glad you got to see one! I think the pink striped ones are the prettiest.
Thanks for commenting,
Sherry
Yep, just saw one walking my dog this morning at 10 AM in Colorado Springs! Thanks for the blog, now I know what the crazy little thing is!
You’re welcome Roy, glad you found it helpful, and that you got to see one of these amazing creatures.
Sherry
I believe I had one of these at my flowers the other evening in Central Alberta, Canada. It was beautiful and i was tuly amazed watching it. i tried to get pictures but it would fly off each time.
i had never seen or heard of these until now. Are they known to be in Canada?
Hi Rhonda,
Yes, they are very hard to get a picture of! (And yes, I do believe they are found in Canada. )
I saw one last night, just after dark at my flower bed, didn’t try to get a pic, just watched it. They truly are such beautiful creatures. Thank you for commenting,
-Sherry
Donna and I just saw this Moth Hummingbird in my backyard!!!!!!!
Hi Debra,
They’re awesome aren’t they? :) Glad you got to see one!
Just saw 5 for the first time tonight!! Found this blog while searching what we found. So friendly and love pink! Hope they stick around! Iowa.
Wow, 5 at a time! Would love to see that many at once here.
My Husband and I have been watching one in our garden here in Wichita Kansas for about two weeks and then tonight we had five or six of them all over our honeysuckle. Of course we thought they were hummingbirds too, but learned their true identity on your blog. My husband was trying to take pictures and decided to record them instead. They are lovely~