Deadwood’s main street light poles have hanging planters of petunias, if you pay attention, towards evening the “Hummingbird Moths” can be seen darting from planter to planter. It took a few tries, but I finally got a few decent photos. They don’t spend too much time in one place and they certainly don’t sit still for a photo!

About the White-lined Sphinx Moth

Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. They are sometimes erroneously referred to as the hummingbird moth because of their bird-like size (2-3 inch wingspan) and flight patterns.

As caterpillars, they have a wide range of color phenotypes but show consistent adult coloration. With a wide geographic range throughout Central and North America, H. lineata is known to feed on many different host plants as caterpillars and pollinate a variety of flowers as adults.

Larvae are powerful eaters and are known to form massive groupings capable of damaging crops and gardens. As adults, they use both visual and olfactory perception to locate plants from which they collect nectar.