Hawk Moths: Garden Guests

Sphingidae (Hawk moths) are generally large and colorful moths. A large variety can be found in the USA. Many species are incredible pollinators and some even have unique pollination roles they play within an ecosystem. Hawk moths are frequent visitors to gardens, but aren’t often seen as many are night-flying. A few species are day flying, and when in flight, often resemble hummingbirds. In fact, one even has the common name of “Hummingbird Clearwing”. This talk, presented by Teá Montagna, will focus on the importance of these organisms, as well as the roles they play in gardens, and how to garden for them.

Teá Montagna is a 5th year PhD candidate at UMass Boston. She has been studying insects (with an emphasis on Sphingidae) for over 15 years. Her PhD work is on the diversity and abundance of these organisms across an urban to rural gradient, and also conducts taxonomic work.  Teá has been educating the public on these organisms for many years through talks, courses, and outreach programs. In her spare time, she is an avid gardener both of native plants and tropical houseplants.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. 7-9pm.

Meetings are held the at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available for a small fee, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.

If you are interested in attending virtually, but have not received the meeting link via email, or are not a SGC member, you can email info@somervillegardenclub.org for the link.