Pink-Spotted Hawk Moth

This large Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth (Agrius cingulata) moth has been visiting a window box filled with petunias on my porch almost every night this past week. This is the largest hummingbird moth I have ever seen, with a wingspan of almost 5 inches, it is truly bigger than a hummingbird! It is very friendly and hovered around me while I took these photographs last night. These moths have abdomens with distinct black and pink stripes, and a very long proboscis. They nectar on deep-throated flowers including moonflower (Calonyction aculeatum), morning glory (Convolvulus) and petunias. Adults are very strong and fast fliers and, according to enature.com, can fly up to 30 mph! Caterpillar hosts include paw paw trees, Sweet Potato and jimsonweed (all of which are abundant here). Click photos to enlarge and view this beautiful moth.

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Closeup of pink and black stripes

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In flight

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Look at the proboscis as this moth nectars on a petunia

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Related Posts:
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Daisy Fleabane

This large patch of cheerful Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) grows in a grassy spot at the edge of the woods at the far end of our yard. My husband never mows this area until after these wildflowers are finished blooming. Though a common weed here, I like it anyway. So do multitudes of bees, flower flies, green metallics, butterflies and other insects. Below are just a few of the many photos I have taken in this patch this week.

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In Full Bloom

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Fleabane and Bumblebee

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Pearl Crescent Butterfly & Fleabane

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Flower Fly

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Horace’s Duskywing Butterfly

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Related posts:
White Wildflowers and Other Plants
Trilliums and Mayapples
Colorful Mushrooms
Daily Walk in April

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Painted Lady

Two of these Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) visited my yard today. The Painted Lady is also known as the Cosmopolitan because it is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world, found on every continent except Antarctica. The caterpillars feed on a wide variety of host plants of the families Asteraceae, especially thistles and the adults nectar at butterfly bushes, thistles, asters, zinnias and other wildflowers and cultivars.

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Painted Lady

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Underside of Painted Lady

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September Butterflies

September has been a very good month for butterflies in my yard. Not only have I seen the elusive Female Diana Fritillary, but I have seen them on my butterfly bushes daily and as many as five of them at a time! Here are a few photos of some of the different varieties of butterflies that have visited my yard this past month.

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Aphrodite Fritillary

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Cloudless Sulphur

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Spicebush Swallowtail

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Tiger Swallowtail

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Click photos to view larger versions

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