Hummingbird moth caterpillars feed primarily on honeysuckle, snowberry, dogbane, and dwarf bush honeysuckle, depending on the species. North America is home to four hummingbird moth species, and their caterpillars use different host plants. If you’re trying to identify what a caterpillar is eating in your yard, or you want to plant specifically for these moths, the species matters.
Host Plants by Species
The two most common hummingbird moths in North America are the hummingbird clearwing and the snowberry clearwing. Both are widespread, with the hummingbird clearwing more abundant in the eastern half of the continent and the snowberry clearwing more common in the west. Their caterpillars share several host plants but have slightly different preferences.
The hummingbird clearwing (sometimes called the bumblebee moth) lays eggs on dogbane, snowberry, honeysuckle, and dwarf bush honeysuckle. The snowberry clearwing uses the same core group: snowberry, honeysuckle, dogbane, and dwarf bush honeysuckle. In practice, if you have any of these shrubs in your landscape, either species could use them.
The white-lined sphinx moth, another species commonly called a hummingbird moth because of its hovering flight, is far less picky. Its caterpillars feed on a wide range of plants including evening primrose, four-o’clocks, purslane, willow-weed, fuchsia, grape, and even apple. In the desert Southwest, they use sand verbena and wishbone plant. In Texas, toothed spurge is a common host. This generalist habit is one reason white-lined sphinx moths show up in gardens across nearly every climate zone in North America.
Native vs. Non-Native Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is listed as a host for both clearwing species, but not all honeysuckles are equal in your garden. Dwarf bush honeysuckle is a well-behaved native shrub that tops out at three to four feet and works well in borders. Invasive Asian honeysuckles (like Japanese honeysuckle vine) will technically feed caterpillars but create ecological problems that outweigh the benefit. Snowberry is another excellent native option, producing white berries in fall and staying compact enough for foundation plantings.
How to Identify the Caterpillars
Hummingbird moth caterpillars belong to the sphinx moth family, and like their relatives the tomato hornworm, they’re hefty caterpillars with a signature horn or spine near the tail end. Some species lose this horn as they mature and replace it with a dark eyespot marking. They can reach three inches or more in length.
Clearwing caterpillars are typically green with lighter striping along their sides. The white-lined sphinx caterpillar is more variable, appearing in shades of green, yellow, or even black with colorful spots. If you find a large hornworm on honeysuckle, snowberry, or dogbane, it’s almost certainly a clearwing hummingbird moth larva rather than a tomato hornworm, which sticks to plants in the nightshade family like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.
Garden Damage Is Minimal
Unlike tomato hornworms, which can strip a tomato plant bare in a matter of days, clearwing hummingbird moth caterpillars rarely cause noticeable damage to their host shrubs. The plants they favor, particularly snowberry and bush honeysuckle, are vigorous woody shrubs that tolerate leaf loss easily. You’re unlikely to spot the caterpillars at all unless you go looking for them, since they feed mostly at night and blend in well with foliage.
White-lined sphinx caterpillars can occasionally appear in large enough numbers to defoliate garden plants like four-o’clocks or evening primrose, but this is uncommon outside of desert regions where population booms sometimes happen after wet springs.
Creating Habitat in Your Garden
Supporting the full life cycle of hummingbird moths means providing both caterpillar host plants and nectar sources for the adults. The adults visit bee balm, phlox, butterfly bush, and other tubular flowers, but without the right larval hosts nearby, the moths won’t establish a breeding population in your yard.
A few practical steps make a difference:
- Plant native shrubs as anchors. Snowberry, dwarf bush honeysuckle, and dogbane are the most reliable hosts for clearwing species. Place them in both sunny and partially shaded spots, since caterpillars use both.
- Stagger bloom times for adults. Plant a mix of nectar flowers that bloom from spring through fall so adult moths have food across the full season.
- Skip pesticides entirely. Hummingbird moth caterpillars are insects. Any insecticide applied to their host plants will kill them.
- Leave some wild edges. Small unmaintained patches with native vegetation give caterpillars additional food sources and pupation sites in the soil.
Fall is the best time to establish host plants, giving native shrubs and perennials a full season to root before caterpillars need them the following summer. Plant taller shrubs like snowberry toward the back of a border and lower-growing species like dogbane toward the front, layering heights so the garden provides shelter as well as food.
Quick Reference: Host Plants by Species
- Hummingbird clearwing: dogbane, snowberry, honeysuckle, dwarf bush honeysuckle
- Snowberry clearwing: snowberry, honeysuckle, dogbane, dwarf bush honeysuckle
- White-lined sphinx: evening primrose, four-o’clocks, purslane, willow-weed, fuchsia, grape, apple, sand verbena (Southwest), toothed spurge (Texas)