Hummingbird moths/ tomato hornworms

[JT]

anybody know if the Hummingbird Hawk Moth((Macroglossum stellatarum) can be kept and bred in captivity.(by the average hobbyist)????I know you can buy the "goliath horn worm" and "chow" to raise them on. buy what about the adults? they are nectar feeders but would need a pretty big enclosure, etc. etc.right? i wanted to get some horn worms to raise just because they get Gianormous! and would make great feeders, if only i had something large enough to eat them.thought it would make an interesting project.any thoughts?

 

[JT]

nobody? not even a suggestion???

 

[AFK]

oh man, both the caterpillars and the adults would make nice fat, juicy steaks for mantids lol!

a bit of a tangent, but i've only once seen an adult feeding. i don't know if it was exactly Macroglossum stellatarum, but it was nonetheless a sphinx moth (Sphingidae). it was at night, full moon, and i saw something the size of a small bat suddenly dart out of nowhere to the flowerbed, and i was amazed because at first, i thought it was a large hummingbird awake a night feeding on the flowers, but then a closer look revealed it was a sphinx moth. really amazing to see one feeding at night...they hover just like a hummingbird, and you can see their SUPER long proboscis probing into the flowers.

 

[Orin]

The spinx moth caterpillars eat a ton. The cost of food is high unless you mix your own in scale. I'd recommend trying the painted lady butterfly instead as the caterpillars aren't so oversized, getting the adults to feed is easier and finding adequate wild food more realistic.

 

[JT]

couldn't you just feed them(adult moths) from a hummingbird feeder? with "nectar" mix?or is the whole idea just a bit unrealistic?you can buy the Silkworm/Hornworm chow to make up yourself. which seems pretty easy.

 

[captainmerkin]

I have bred hummingbird hawkmoths before maybe 15 years ago, beautiful moths.

They are very fast and require huge amounts of space and a low humidity. I cannot remember what the catepillars eat anymore though.

My breeding failed after a while they just simply seemed to die all in one go, this was the same each time round.

The privett hawk moths on the other hand did really well and I was able to release a few hundred into the garden one summer, they are also very easy to feed

If you have a huge greenhouse with a reasonably low humidity then go for it, just make sure there are lots of nectar plants in there, budlea worked very well if I remember right.

But if you think of putting them into a small tank or something forget it they will destroy themselves flying into the walls over and over.