White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata) feeding at Penstemon Flowers

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata) sipping nectar from a Penstemon. What a beautiful morning this was.
White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata) sipping nectar from a penstemon.

The penstemons next to our house here in Southwestern Colorado have been blooming for the last couple of weeks, and they are attracting loads of pollinators. I’ve been spending a lot of time photographing the different types of wasps and bees, trying to learn how to identify them. I’m finding it to be a daunting task – there are so many different types!

As an added and unexpected bonus – the penstemons also get regular visits from White-lined Sphinx Moths. These are the insect equivalents of Hummingbirds. They dart from flower to flower so quickly that it seems as though they teleport, then they hover while they insert their long proboscis into the flowers to drink drink nectar.

White-lined sphinx moth unfurling its proboscis as it approaches our garden Penstemons.
White-lined sphinx moth unfurling its proboscis as it approaches our garden penstemons.

The sound of the moth wings is very distinctive, a sort of soft whirring noise. When I’m concentrating on photographing a particular bee, staying motionless and staring fixedly through the camera view finder, I’ll hear the sound of the moth’s wings as they zip through the flowers.

Sometimes I’ll even feel the softness of their wings brushing against my skin as they fly close.

Over-the-shoulder view of a White-lined Sphinx Moth as it approaches Penstomen blooms.
Watching over the ‘shoulder’ of a White-lined Sphinx Moth as it approaches penstemon blooms.

The Sphinx Moths usually aren’t as active in the brightest parts of the day. I see them mostly in the mornings and evenings, and even then they prefer flying in the shaded portions of the flower bed.

Which works pretty well for photography. If I can get them in focus when they are briefly in the sun, the light on them is often ludicrously dramatic. Especially with the red and blue backdrop of the penstemons.

White-lined sphinx moth withdraws its proboscis from one of our garden's Penstemons. You can see droplets of water or nectar running down the proboscis.
White-lined sphinx moth withdraws its proboscis from one of our garden’s penstemons. You can see droplets of water or nectar running down the proboscis. I also love to see how the wings are twisting in the air as the moth hovers in place. Can you imagine the calculations needed to do this?

In real-time, the moths move so quickly that it’s hard to even track them with my eyes, let alone to see the details of what they are doing. So one of the things I like about looking at these photos of the moths is that I can get a better view of their probosces, those long, improbable tubes through which the moths drink in the flower nectar.

White-lined sphinx moth withdraws its proboscis from one of our garden's Penstemons. You can see droplets of water or nectar running down the proboscis.
White-lined sphinx moth withdraws its proboscis from one of our garden’s penstemons. You can see that the proboscis doesn’t necessarily stay in-line with the moth’s main body axis – they are able to move it from side to side. How on earth they control this is beyond me.

I can’t even imagine the calculations the moths must perform to so precisely unfurl and insert their probosces into the flower tubes, all while hovering(!)

The beauty, the unlikelihood of all this, it’s hard to believe. Once again – if I did not live in this world, I would have trouble imagining it.

Tags
Related Posts