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Today on Animal Fact FIles, we’re talking about hummingbird moths. Flutter over that subscribe button to keep up with new episodes. Thank you to Potana for today’s request! Hummingbird moths are also known as hummingbird hawk moths, clearwing moths, and bee hawk moths. They’re most commonly mistaken for hummingbirds, but they can look like bees as well. I actually saw one while I was working on this episode and thought it was a bee before hummingbird even crossed my mind, but that’s because I live where larger hummingbirds are commonly found and this particular individual was rather small. While hummingbird moths average about a two inch (5 centimeter) wingspan, some species of hummingbird moths may have wingspans of more than five inches (12.7 centimeters). Considering the smallest hummingbird’s wingspan is just over two inches long, and most other species average 5 or fewer inches in length, it’s understandable why these birds and arthropods get confused. Heck, hummingbird moths even fly and eat like hummingbirds by darting around and hovering in front of flowers; some species are even capable of flying backwards just like a hummingbird!

Hummingbirds, however, are only found in the Americas, while hummingbird moths can be found all over the world. If you live anywhere besides the Americas and see an animal that looks like a hummingbird, in all likelihood it’s a hummingbird moth. If you do live in the Americas, you can usually tell the difference by color, since hummingbirds tend to be more iridescent, the “beak” since birds can’t curl theirs, or the wings, since hummingbird moths obviously don’t have feathers. You could also count their legs because, even if you’re one of those people who believes hummingbirds don’t have legs, you can always count on a hummingbird moth having six. (unlessitgotinafightwithameanieandlostoneorsomething)

Hummingbird moths drink nectar from flowers and usually pick the long tubular kind like honeysuckle and beebalm. Of course, that’s only half the story since hummingbird moths don’t start out with wings.

The other common name for hummingbird moths, hornworms, comes from their larval stage. I was actually more familiar with this stage of these arthropods than I was the adult stage before I started researching. Is it the same for you? Hornworms get their name from the pointy part of their rear end which doesn’t present any threat even though it looks a bit imposing. They’re usually green in color to help them blend in with their surroundings, but they can come in other colors, too. Adult female hummingbird moths will attract the attention of a male using pheromones. After mating, she’ll lay her round green eggs on the underside of leaves the larvae enjoy eating. These can include honeysuckle, hawthorns, and even tomatoes which is in part why some species are considered pests. It takes about a week for the eggs to hatch, and the larvae will grow molting a few times before preparing themselves for their transformation into an adult moth. After living about a month as caterpillars, they’ll drop to the ground and create a cocoon. Some burrow under the ground while others just stay in a layer of leaf litter. Usually within a few weeks, they’ll emerge as adult moths, though it can take longer depending on location and time of year. How long hummingbird moths can live really depends on the species as well as when they were born. Moths that hatch in the early spring likely have a longer pupal stage that has to overwinter as compared to those that hatch in late summer and develop faster in warmer temperatures. Generally speaking less than a year is the average for the entire life cycle of these moths.

For more facts on hummingbird moths, check out the links in the description. Thank you for watching, and give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files.