Banded Sphinx Eumorpha fasciatus

If you've spotted what looked like a tiny hummingbird hovering over flowers at dusk, there's a real chance it was a hawk moth. Sphinx moths hover with extraordinary precision while uncoiling a long proboscis to probe deep into blooms — a flight technique so refined it rivals hummingbirds for efficiency and speed.

The caterpillars are just as dramatic as the adults, sporting the classic sphinx look: a curved caudal horn on the tail end and bold patterning that startles predators. Adults are stunning in their own right, cloaked in olive, brown, and soft pink banding that melts into bark and leaf litter when resting. First formally documented by naturalist Johann Heinrich Sulzer all the way back in 1776, this beauty has been turning heads for centuries.