A new visitor in the garden

Garden Hill August 2023

August is a pollinator party in the garden — from the tiniest of bees, to big bumble bees, various skipper butterflies, random butterflies. By this point in the summer, we are very accustomed to the frenetic flight patterns of the ruby-throated hummingbird in the garden. A friend joined me for dinner one evening. Afterwards we took a walk in the garden. As dusk flowed in, we looked out over the garden hill, there was a frenzy of movement on a blooming phlox plant. At first I thought it was a hummingbird but as we paused to observe we realized it was a moth. I later identified it as a White-Lined Sphinx Moth.

Below is a photo by Jérôme Farine.

Here’s a link at Birds and Blooms for more info: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/garden-bugs/facts-about-hummingbird-moths/

Also a link to iNaturalist.ca for lots of photos: https://inaturalist.ca/taxa/49348-Hyles-lineata/browse_photos

White-Lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata) photo credit: Jérôme Farine@jeromefarine

Phlox paniculata, the plant the sphinx moth visited

Tiny bees on Whorled Milkweed

Bumble bee enjoying Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)

This milkweed isn’t native but a friend offered it and I had to have it in my collection. African Milkweed (Asclepias fruticosa). Isn’t the flower beautiful?!