Tuesday, April 21, 2009

when moths attack



Mothra vs. Godzilla. Lol. Not quite what happened in our backyard yesterday, but it was a little unnerving. Dan and I were eating dinner around dusk at the end of a hot, hot (102 degree) day, watching the hummingbirds at our bottlebrush tree. Suddenly, the birds were joined by what looked like baby hummingbirds. Awwww, how cute.

Until we start to see a few, then a dozen, and then a few dozen! Upon closer inspection with binoculars and then up close, we decided they were really hummingbird-like moths! And Google, in all its wondorousness, led me to the species: the White-Lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata).


Photo credit to Dr. Bill May (http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/moths.shtml

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