Five-Spotted Hawk Moth vs Broad-footed Colletes

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Five-Spotted Hawk Moth Broad-footed Colletes
Scientific Name Manduca quinquemaculata Colletes halophilus
Order Lepidoptera Hymenoptera
Family Sphingidae Colletidae
Size 95-130 mm wingspan 9-12 mm
Habitat Farmland Beaches & Coastal
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Throughout North America Western Europe
Conservation Least Concern Near Threatened

Five-Spotted Hawk Moth

A large mottled gray moth whose caterpillar is the familiar tomato hornworm with a distinctive black horn. The adult has five pairs of yellow-orange spots on its abdomen.

💡

Did You Know?

Its caterpillar is frequently confused with the tobacco hornworm but can be distinguished by its V-shaped white markings instead of diagonal stripes.

Broad-footed Colletes

A rare coastal specialist plasterer bee that forages on sea aster in saltmarsh habitats. It is restricted to a narrow band of habitat along European coasts.

💡

Did You Know?

Rising sea levels and saltmarsh erosion directly threaten its nesting sites, making it one of the bees most vulnerable to climate change.