Mystery solved? Hummingbird Moths or Hummingbirds

I think we found our only clue as to whether the critters in my previous video were birds or moths. Kind of wild that it can be so hard to tell the difference between a bug and a bird! First video: • Are these hummingbird ...
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[@pimpozza]

So exciting, Andrea.. that's definitely a hummingbird moth pupa! 👍💚

[@SucsForYou]

Yay! I just wish I knew the type/species but sometimes nature is mysterious like that 😅🙏

[@pimpozza]

​@@SucsForYouThe only species I have seen in my garden is Macroglossum stellatarum.. the larvae are an amazing bright green! I have found pupae under leaves and even buried under the soil in some of my pots (waiting to emerge in Springtime) and they look just like the one you found, Andrea.. I know one moth pupa can look similar to another.. but I am enchanted by these creatures and always keen to learn!

[@SucsForYou]

@@pimpozza thanks for the name! I could have met the caterpillar in person thinking it was a tomato hornworm - they look pretty similar, and I had some big dudes on my tomatoes not long ago. I let them stay until the heat finished off the plants. And the pupa was right near where they'd been planted. But it also looks like a hornworm pupa 🤷🏽‍♀🙏

[@pimpozza]

@@SucsForYou That's interesting... I've heard people call the larvae of Macroglossum stellatarum "hornworms" 🤷🏻‍♀️ but it's Manduca quinquemaculata, the 5-spotted hawkmoth which loves to munch tomatoes during the larva stage.. 😆🍅 They're not native to Europe so we never see them here.. But to add further to the confusion, the 5-spotted hawk moth is also sometimes referred to as a "hummingbird moth".. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I guess the pupa could be a hornworm pupa as they're likely very similar.. but those little critters you filmed are definitely a type of true hummingbird moth, ie those that look and fly like a feathered version.. 🤗

[@SucsForYou]

@@pimpozza So you can see why I'm not sure who was what 😅 And I'm only finding a few sources that say the Macroglossum eat tomatoes. I'm comfortable with the critters being moths but still unsure whose pupa that was lol!

[@paulmartinez2480]

My wife use to find these cocoon's every year in the sandy side of her home. Yes they freaked her out too. Glad to know now they are the Hummingbird moths. They are all over her moon flowers & 4 0'clocks flowers too and come in the eveings to get their nector.

[@EileenWstCstGrl]

With so many of them, I think you would have heard them if they were birds. Hummingbirds constantly chirp and trill at each other.

[@SucsForYou]

I thought the same thing. Hummers have a really high pitched chit and not a peep from these. But I was right near my loud outdoor AC unit. And while replying to you I just heard the first screech owl of the year 🫶🏽