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Project Noah Nature School
Hemaris thysbe
found this one in my nature photo archives SO BEAUTIFUL!
Spotted on Aug 11, 2014
Submitted on Nov 24, 2021
3 Comments
From what I have learned, this could be a form of Batesian Mimicry as the hummingbird moth imitates the appearance of the the hummingbird, which makes sense as it mistakes its predators by making them think its a hummingbird, when it's not.
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollin...
I got the idea after finding another insect within the same genus (Hemaris) that mimics the appearance of a bumblebee.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewc...
those are great questions! i wonder if scientists have addressed any aspect of this in any of their studies?
That moth looks amazing! Does it follow some type of imitation of a hummingbird to prevent predators from eating it while eating similar food as the hummingbird?
I'm actually really curious about the specific type of imitation the humming bird moth uses on.