Mistaken Identity

Bill and I were out walking the Dog last week when we noticed what looked like a very large Bumble Bee eating nectar from the neighbor's Phlox. I was surprised because I have never seen a bee that large. After a few moments of observation, we came to the conclusion that it was actually a Hummingbird. But I was still surprised because I have never seen a Hummingbird that small. For the next several evenings we continues to see these creatures on different neighbor's phlox through out the neighborhood, and it made us curious to find out just what they are.

Bill started looking at all the Hummingbird species and could not find one that matched the marking of what we were seeing. He asked our neighbor who is a bird expert about these hummingbirds and she could not tell us what they are, but did tell us that it was probably a migratory species just passing through.

I was sitting at the computer last night and I started googling different terms and much to my surprise there was a picture of one of these mysterious creatures. Turns out it is actually a moth.



Here is the Hummingbird Imposters article from the Missouri Department of Conservation. Seems they are a species of The Hawk Moth which include the larvae of the Tomato Horn Worm.



I am posting a picture of a Horn Worm with parasitic wasp eggs on it, with the hope of illustrating how important it is to think about what kind of pesticides we use around our garden. I like to be treatment free, in the Beehive as well as the garden. It is important to remember that what we use to kill the worms will also kill any predators that may need that worms to exist. Even though BT is promoted as harmless to Humans and other creatures, there is harm in using it. Not only to the wasp who need the worms to reproduce and will do a very good job controlling your worms but also the Bat who loves to eat Hawk Moths as well as Mosquitoes.



So think about the bigger picture before you run to the store and purchase those so called harmless crop protection chemicals. With a little research you will find that some creature out there will gladly solve your problem for free. You just need to find out which ones and how to make them feel at home in your garden.