Alamogordo: Sphinx Moth

White-lined sphinx moth, Alamogordo, New Mexico.

A white-lined sphinx moth outside my front door the other day. AKA hummingbird moth.

In fact, I saw one of these in Missouri one year; it liked to check out the flowers on my deck. And it did seem like a hummingbird.

Indeed, in Missouri on that same deck, I saw the caterpillar version, though I didn't know it at the time  - huge, fat, long, a vivid green - that scared the bejesus out of me when I first spied it on one of my plants. I was so stupefied (no exaggeration) I called a friend to come to my house to take a look.

Holy Mother of God, look for yourself:

White-line sphinx caterpillar. Credit: What's That Bug