Hi Jill,

Sounds like you have a moth known as on Omnivorous looper, Sabulodes
aegrotata. They are large and very agile in flight. They are native to our
area and their larvae feed on salmonberry, ocean spray, alders, and willows.

There is so much in nature to enjoy and discover!!

Ed

On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 9:00 AM Diane Weinstein <diane_weinstein at msn.com>
wrote:


> Insects are fascinating, almost as fascinating as birds. Thanks for the

> insect identification links.

>

> There is a facebook group "Pacific Northwest Bugs" which has been

> helpful. It is similar in nature to the "Western Washington Birders"

> facebook group.

>

> My front porch Nest camera has been picking up some flying critters at

> night. I had assumed that they might be bats, but I will have to

> investigate further to see if some might be moths.

>

> Diane Weinstein

> Sammamish

>

> ------------------------------

> *From:* Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf

> of Rob Huff <rob.mcnairhuff at gmail.com>

> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 19, 2020 8:01 AM

> *To:* tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>; Jill Freidberg <

> jill.freidberg at gmail.com>

> *Subject:* Re: [Tweeters] Moth behaving like hummingbird

>

> Jill,

>

> Cool sighting! I have seen these large Hummingbird Moths in Tacoma a few

> times over the years, mostly around dusk, and I watched a few of them

> feeding during the daytime hours in the middle of Eastern Washington while

> out birding around 2010 or so.

>

> This page has very approachable information about moths in Washington:

> https://www.insectidentification.org/insects-by-type-and-region.asp?thisState=Washington&thisType=Butterfly%20or%20Moth

>

> Here is the page for the Hummingbird Moth:

> https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Hummingbird-Moth

>

> Rob

>

>

>

> --

> Rob Huff ---------- Tacoma, WA

> Author of Washington Disasters (Globe Pequot, 2006), Birding Washington

> (Falcon Publishing, 2004) and Insider's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula

> (Globe Pequot, 2001)

> www.whiterabbits.com

> On May 18, 2020, 9:51 PM -0700, Jill Freidberg <jill.freidberg at gmail.com>,

> wrote:

>

> I am over 50 and born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and I have

> never seen a night pollinating moth. But tonight a moth almost the size of

> an Anna's hummer was pollinating my Valerian, in the dark. Silent, hovering

> above each flower, (at quite a distance so it must have a really long

> tongue)! Does anyone know if there are a lot of moths in this area that

> behave this way, or just a few?

>

> Jill

> Central District, Seattle

>

>

>

>

>

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