At sunset, sphinx moths arrive for another feeding in the ginger lilies. They drain the flowers’ day-long accumulation of nectar, then move on. Around midnight, they return for the nectar that has been produced since nightfall.
I’ve seen a few different species of these hovering moths in the yard. The moth in the following photos is either a Carolina sphinx or a Five-spotted hawkmoth, but I can’t decide which. Any ideas? (Maybe it’s neither?)
The moth in this video is a Pink-spotted hawkmoth.
This Painted Lady butterfly visited the ginger lilies today. It ignored the new blooms, drinking instead from wilted, overripe flowers.
I wondered if the nectar might be fermenting. The butterfly certainly seemed to lose coordination, as it drank.
After fifteen or twenty minutes of steady feeding, the butterfly spent some time coiling and uncoiling its tongue, as if uncertain about what to do next. Then it sat perfectly still for a while.
When I moved to find a new angle, the butterfly startled and fell from its perch, catching itself upside down on a low hanging set of blooms. I would almost swear it hiccuped. Then it dropped into flight, fluttered sideways a few yards, and staggered off toward the north.
At dusk, the ginger lilies’ powerful perfume fills the yard, drawing hawk moths and sphinx moths. They arrive in the last moments of twilight, large shadows flitting silently among blooms that almost glow in the dark. The moths hover as they sip nectar with impressively long tongues.
Tonight’s visitors were mostly Carolina sphinx moths, a new species for the yard.
I did a few spring chores in the yard today. I mowed, which thrilled the robins.
Then I uncovered the ginger lilies. Last winter, we lost an entire bed of ginger lilies, who are more susceptible to cold than any of our other bulbs. I feared losing all the beds as snowstorm after snowstorm plowed through the area. Stung by last year’s losses, this year I have been determined to leave them insulated until well after our last “frost date”. They’ve had other plans, stubbornly growing through and under and around their protective layers. So tonight they are free.
It’s not just the ginger lilies. The tulips are ahead of schedule, too. We don’t have many tulips (six, to be exact), and they don’t seem to thrive in our yard. Some years, they don’t bloom at all. That’s not the case this year.
While working in the corner flower bed, I found a family of fresh-hatched spiderlings. (Look away!) I’m wretchedly arachnophobic, but these little motes hardly seemed like spiders. They were almost cute. I watched as they trooped across a tiny span of web, climbed the tallest iris, and floated away on gossamer sails. I wanted to wave goodbye. And wish them luck. And read Charlotte’s Web again.
All told, it was a lovely day in the yard.
Rae Spencer 