Enclosed are two
photos of a small hummingbird sized insect. It
hovers and flies like a hummingbird and goes from flower to flower inserting its
beak or probe into each flower. It didn’t seem too bothered by me standing two
to three feet away and taking pictures. I hope you can identify it from the
pictures.
The insect in question is a sphinx moth. From the picture, it appears to be the white-lined sphinx. While some sphinx moths are only out at dusk or in the evening, this particular one can be seen all day and night, and is one of the more common of the sphinx moths. They are often seen poised in the air over flowers, like hummingbirds, and some people call them hummingbird moths. The larvae or caterpillar stage feeds on a number of plants. This insect is related to the tomato hornworm.