Subject: hummingbird moth

From: [email-masked] (PVTS)
Date: 11 Jan 1995 22:47:16 -0500

What can anyone tell me about attracting hummingbird moths to my yard.  I 
want to plant food and nesting materials for adult and larval stages.  At 
the moment I have butterfly bushes newly planted and tend to grow zinnias 
in the summer.

I live in zone 7, near Washington, D.C..  I have seen an isolated 
hummingbird moth near here twice.  

Also, what does the larval stage look like and how do they overwinter?

Thank you, 
Carla D'Anna

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From: [email-masked] (Asyriaca)
Date: 12 Jan 1995 20:04:42 -0500

Carla,
        Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), and Butterfly Bush (Buddleia
davidii) will work as nectar sources. Snowball Bush (Viburnum sp.) is the
host plant.
                                                    Good luck,
                                                                   Vic

From Michael Oliver Mon Jan 16 12:58:14 EST 1995
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From: Michael Oliver
Newsgroups: sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera
Subject: Re: hummingbird moth
Date: 13 Jan 1995 04:48:11 GMT
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>   [email-masked] (PVTS) writes:
>  What can anyone tell me about attracting hummingbird moths to my yard.  [etc.]

Carla,

Hemaris thysbe (Fabricius), the hummingbird moth or hummingbird clearwing, hovers
at deep-throated flowers sipping nectar by day.  Butterfly Gardening (Xerces Soc.,
1990, p. 99) has a photo of one nectaring at the upturned throat of a wild bergamot
(Monarda fistulosa), in the mint family.  C.V. Covell's Peterson Field Guide to Eastern
Moths (1984) lists this sphingid's foodplants as hawthorns, honeysuckles, Prunus
spp., and snowberries.  I've seen this or another day-flying sphingid hovering and 
nectaring at our butterfly bushes.  Good luck on your project!

Michael Oliver  ([email-masked])

From Michael Oliver Mon Jan 16 12:58:15 EST 1995
Article: 377 of sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera
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From: Michael Oliver ([email-masked])
Newsgroups: sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera
Subject: Know a Coleoptera newsgroup?
Date: 13 Jan 1995 04:57:44 GMT
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Can any reader point me toward a newsgroup
(or Mosaic site, gopher hole, mail list etc.) devoted to
beetles?  Any level of interest is okay, be it for
taxonomists, amateur collectors, or what have you.
Thanks much!

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From: [email-masked] (PVTS)
Date: 14 Jan 1995 00:08:09 -0500

Thank you to all who kindly replied via email to my questions.  To sum it 
up, for the benefit of others, it seems the larvae of the family 
Sphingidae (sphinx moth or hawkmoth) are a large, non-fuzzy caterpillar 
with a "horn" at the posterior tip.  They feed upon honeysuckle, 
viburnum, hawthorn, snowberries, coralberry and prunus.  They pupate an 
inch or two below ground level and overwinter in the soil. 

The moths are attracted (by smell) to the nectar of Monarda, cone flowers, any large petaled, single flower 
large petaled single type flower (like zinnias), Buddleia and tubular-type 
blooms.  White and cream colors were suggested  (like nicotiana or 
petunia) .  Four O'Clocks, lilas, and Mimosa were also mentioned as 
favorite nectar sources.  It was pointed out that unlike butterflies, 
these moths are attracted by scent. 

I'm looking forward to doing some plantings to attract these guys.  
Thanks again for all the information,  Carla

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From: [email-masked] ("Colin Cracknell")
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 12:13:08 GMT

You've given us an object lesson in the need to use Latin names.

I was going to contribute my mite of knowledge, that I'd seen Hummingbird 
Hawks attracted to Nicotiana, when I noticed Michael Oliver's reply:

>Hemaris thysbe (Fabricius), the hummingbird moth or hummingbird 
>clearwing ...

At this point I decided that the US English names must be different, and 
your hummingbird moth was no relation of ours. As a result I didn't say 
anything.

Further investigation has left me very confused. Margaret Brooks' 
Complete Guide to British Moths doesn't mention Hemaris thysbe at all, 
though it does have H. tityus (Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth) and H. 
fuciformis (Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth). Both these are Sphingids, and 
do in fact have transparent wings, but the term "clearwing" is usually 
reserved for the Paranthreninae in the family Sesiidae.

------------------------------------------------------------------
[email-masked] | "Specialisation is for insects" [RAH]
                           | "I specialise in insects" [ColinC]
All opinions are my own, but Darter Systems agrees with me.
------------------------------------------------------------------

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From: [email-masked] (Neil Jones)
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 13:46:44 +0000

I seem to have missed the original posting. It is a little odd as I have been
picking up s.b.e.l since before xmas.

Anyway here is my contribution.
We have a few sphingids in this group that occur in the UK. (We call them
all Hawk-moths). Bernard Skinners's Colour Identification Guide to the Moths
of the British Isles gives some information on nectar sourceswhich I have
detailed below.
 
Hemaris tityus (Narrow Bordered Bee Hawk-moth) visits the flowers of Bugle
(Ajuga reptans), Bird's-fot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) Red Valerian
(Centranthus ruber), Rhododendron (Over here it is usually ponticum.)
and Lousewort (Pedicularis spp.)

Hemaris fuciformis (Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth) visits the flowers of
Bugle, Honeysuckle, Ragged-Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) and  Rhododendron.

Macroglossum stellaratum (Humming-bird Hawk-moth) visits Red Valarian,
Honeysuckle, Petunia, Escallonia, Buddleia and Jasmina.

The last of these is an uncommon migrant. I have seen it nectaring from
cultivated Lavender in the South of France.

While not all of these species may occur in your part of the world
some of them may have common relatives which you could try.

-- 
Neil Jones [email-masked]

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From: DASCENZO <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 15:25:14 EST

Carla,

The best way to attract any moth is to put a uv lamp (black lamp) next to a whi
te sheet.  If you can put them both in a wooded area, that would be best.  Some
 uv lamps can run on bateries.  If you don't have a wooded area, just place it
near your bushes and see what happens.

Mark D'Ascenzo <[email-masked]>

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From: [email-masked] (Pierre A Plauzoles)
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 16:02:19 GMT

In a previous article, [email-masked] ("Colin Cracknell") says:

>At this point I decided that the US English names must be different,
[....]
>reserved for the Paranthreninae in the family Sesiidae.

Hello.  Yes you are right, the names are different, but Hemaris thysbe, 
and other species in the genus are very probably related.  Many groups 
are the victims of such nomenclatural problems among common names, which 
is why scientific names are so valuable.  But don't feel left out on 
account of this.  Manduca sexta and M quinquemaculata are called 
hornworms here, but a close relative, M rustica is not even though 
Erinnyis ello, a tropical species not closely related to these three, is 
called the cassava hornworm.  (!!)  Go figure.
Pierre Plauzoles  [email-masked]