Lime Hawkmoth Mimas tiliae

For all its dramatic size and beauty, this hawk-moth harbors a remarkable secret: the adult never eats. Its mouthparts are vestigial and non-functional, so it lives entirely on fat reserves built up during its caterpillar stage. Every bit of energy for flight, mating, and egg-laying was stored weeks earlier as a larva.

The caterpillar is almost as spectacular as the adult — a chunky, bright green larva with diagonal yellow and white stripes and the classic hawk-moth tail horn. After burrowing underground to pupate, the emerging adult has beautifully camouflaged green and brown wings that mimic foliage so convincingly that resting individuals are nearly impossible to spot, even in plain sight.