Stats

Lifespan: A few weeks
Size: Large
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Crepuscular
Social: Solitary
Biome: Desert
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

A large hawk moth found across North America, unmistakable for its cream-striped brown forewings and vivid pink-banded hindwings. It hovers motionless at flowers while feeding — earning the nickname 'hummingbird moth' — and its caterpillars can complete their entire larval stage in under two weeks during warm summers.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2.
caterpillar
A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3.
cocoon
A silk cocoon spun in leaf litter or soil while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4.
moth
A winged adult with feathery antennae and scaled wings, most active after dark.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Hyles
Species: Hyles lineata