"Hummingbird moth."
That's what I said to myself when I first saw this most peculiar insect that I'd never seen before. Initially, I thought the thing was actually a hummingbird. It hovered and zoomed from flower to flower, its wings going a thousand miles a second. But as small as hummingbirds are, this creature was even smaller. And the coloring wasn't right.
And, wait a minute, that's not a beak. That's a proboscis, like what butterflies have! Except, it's body is large and furry, like a moth.
After watching not one, but several of them, enjoy the nectar of some wildflowers, I went inside and searched online for "hummingbird moth." Of course, that couldn't be the actual name of the insect. But since it made sense, I was sure I wasn't the first person to so dub it as such. Thus, I was sure that someone would have used the term in an article that revealed its proper name.
Lo and behold, I was wrong.
I mean, I was right. I was wrong that I wasn't right about its name. Because - drum roll, please - "hummingbird moth" is the common name for that interesting critter!
Though I was raised in a rural area, I'd never seen or heard of one until we moved onto our rural property eight years ago. That year, there seemed to be plenty, though we only saw them for about a week. Every year since, they've proven to be a rare sighting. I've seen up to three on separate days during the first week of April. The past year or two, I didn't see any at all.
Then came this year. Are hummingbird moths like cicadas, having a major hatch-out every so many years? Or have we seen so many because of our relatively new cherry tree, one of the moth's favorite place to lay eggs?
Whatever the case, this entire month (April 2022) we've seen numerous of these fascinating insects every day. Only now, as May quickly approaches, is their population decreasing.
They've been a delight, and I'll miss seeing them around. But I can always watch the following video if I get to missing them too painfully.
If you've never seen a hummingbird moth, or rarely, you might like to watch the video, too. :)
(Interesting side note: in the video, the wings don't blur nearly as much as they do when you're watching them in real life.)
