embarrassed to even write this

Yardbird had you seen these Hummingbird Moths for a long time? I can't believe I'd never noticed them before, three years ago. I live on a ravine and I thought it must be the reason I've just noticed them, thinking they live in ravines?????????

yardbird> Do you grow your 4 oclocks in the earth or in a pot. Would love to try in a pot.

4 o'clocks should be fine in a pot. Might not get as big as they can when in the ground. I've had some volunteers come up in pots.

thanks

yvana, was just looking into that. thanks. I went to http://www.toltecimages.com lots of wonderful photos on butterflies

Mings:
eNature.com has some great photos of these moths and their caterpillars. The caterpillars are gross--I can't stand to touch them, though they won't hurt you. They are really a fascinating insect, though. I decided to take one in a few years ago to see what it would turn in to and learned a lot about them. When the caterpillar is ready to pupate, it buries itself in the ground. The pupa is large (about 1 1/2 inches long and almost 1/2 inch wide, brown). The proboscis curls to make a little loop then runs down the length of the pupa. It takes several (2-3) weeks for it to emerge. I thought mine had died and was about to toss it outside. I took him outside and set him on a tree trunk to let his wings finish drying. They move exactly like a hummingbird when they feed. You have to look very closely to see the antennae. I have seen them feed on a number of different plants--pentas, lantanas, asters, firebush, coral honeysuckle, etc. They start to feed at dusk, so unless you are out late in the evening looking around you may never know you have these little delights. I used to buy the 4 inch tomatos since I only have room to grow 2 or 3 plants in my veggie garden and hate to buy the 6-pack only to compost half of them. Now I buy a 6-pack to grow extra tomato plants for the Sphynx larva. I have two of them right now--one's in the house and one is still outside. If you decide to try to raise these fellows in a jar or other container, make sure to only put one per container. They will fight and kill each other due to what they see as limited food resources.

Thanks for info! My Dh had a caterpiller fall on the back of his neck from a tree and he squashed it on his neck. Well! it Must of bit him.He was sick for a good week! On My! Don"t want to go through that again . EVER. Not sure if it was a tent caterpillar , or just what it was.