Have been noticing quite a few new fig visitors this year.  Mostly they are scouting around for bugs to eat and some just like hanging around.

Have no idea what this is.  
Came around while I was having lunch on patio.  Thought it was a tiny hummingbird but it has antennae.  About the size of 2 bumble bees stuck together.  He hung around sucking nectar for 10 minutes or so.  ID suggestions?
 

   


This little fellow (toad or frog?) size of a quarter has been sun bathing on fig leaf 4 feet off the ground, all day today.  I was going to move him out of the sun but he seems to be enjoying it;

I believe first picture is a Hummingbird moth.  I'm not familiar with the frog.

Pino,

The "flyer" is a hummingbird moth; we see a lot of them here in Minnesota. As for the frog, possibly the American Green Tree Frog. It is a southeastern species that ranges from Louisiana/ Florida all the way to NJ.

Glad to see that wildlife members pay you visits!
Marcel

We have the Green tree frog here, but it has a smooth skin, no bumps.

Mea ma culpa, My mistake! more likely the Gray Tree Frog, which can change its color to match its environment> Here green to match the fig leaf color.

Marcel

Hi Pino
The name of the moth is Hemaris thysbe or clear wing hawk moth.
They are nice to watch. Cool flyers.
The frog is Gray Treefrog.  Dryophytes versicolor.
They can change color in minutes to mimic their environement. Their young don't have the goose bumps they have smoth shinny skin.Very nice tree frog.
Lucky man after your beautiful snake you get all these critters to make you wonder about nature. Oh yeah they don't eat figs by the way.

Thanks everyone for the Ids!  Glad I asked!

Sounds like the hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe) is wide spread in n. america and is active during the day but first time I have seen one.  Hope to see another one since they have a range of colours.

I have a field nearby and constantly get some strange visitors; various colours of praying mantis, dragon flies, 1' stick insects, snakes, toads and frogs ... all friendly but the toads can be very loud at night.

I've only seen a Hummingbird moth a couple times.  It is a real treat to get to see one, looks just like a hummingbird.

I used to see lots of hawkmoths in NY when I was a child. I haven't seen one in ages. My kids loved tree frogs. They can be quite acrobatic with those toes gripping everything. The frogs too.

Pino,
Go online and look up the best food and host plants and plant them. There are few things as cool as an eclipse of real cool moths showing up and entertaining guests, etc.
Plus they are good for the garden and having many alternate pollinators around can be valuable.
While you are at it look up Mason bees. Fantastic super mellow bees we need to support. Once you start using these bees you'll fall in love with them. They are easy to "keep" (encourage is more accurate) as long as you protect their little wooden block nests from woodpeckers.

I had never seen a hummingbird moth so very happy that it hung around long enough for me to go and get my camera.  Then after a few photo shots it got scared and flew away but then came back and let me take the photos above.

@Michael, thanks for the tip!  I already do what I can to attract wildlife especially Monarchs, bees and seed eating birds.  I have been reading up on Mason Bees and they sound interesting.  Need to find a local source so i can start a hive.

While I have so many wildlife lovers attention on this topic.
Can someone ID this green thing.  See these all the time and they seem like a cross between praying mantis and grasshoppers.  
 
 

It's a katydid. They don't bite so you can safely  handle them. Related to crickets.
You should see how big they get in Costa Rica.

Thanks Michael!  Had never heard of katydid before and yet they are so common.

Pinto, That is a nice shot of a katydid; I have never seen such a nice specimen. You keep your fig plot too clean that poor guy/gal needs some food!!!

Marcel

Hi,
Looks like your katydid is a she. You can she her hook (through the wings) to bury the eggs in the floor.
We have a european version of that beast. I have some in the garden. I've never seen them eat on the figtrees, although they like to sun bath on the leaves.
Still I don't like them because they are a bit too big. Usually I tug them away and leave them to their lives.
Here we call them "grande sauterelle verte" (tettigonia viridissima). It translates to "big green grasshopper".

Here are some visitors of mine (rescued from a container of a figtrees - they jumped in and couldn't get out.):
 

Eating what I had at hand ! A breba of Dalmatie.
 
Had to find a pot and push them into to get them out. No way that I caught them by hand.

Jdsfrance , thanks for letting me know that this is  Mrs katydid now I wonder what her husband looks like.

Your porcupine seem to be enjoying that nice dalmatie hope you found a nice new home for them.  
a few years ago I also found 2 similar looking critters minus the sharp needles they were possums looking up at me with huge eyes.  By the time I got my camera they had gone so no photo.

Pino, These little fellows posted by JDSFrance are not porcupines but hedgehogs...The porcupines have very long quills and are totally unrelated to the hedgehogs.

Cheers,
Marcel

Believe it or not hedgehogs are fairly popular pets here in the USA.
Pino, you do not want to encourage possums in any way unless you want to eat them (I never have). They are the only marsupials in N. America and get as big as a large cat and boy oh boy can they bite! Usually they'll play dead but . . .
If one finds your ripe figs you will have to trap or kill.

Hi,
Here several hedgehogs get flattened at the streets. They are slow to move and by the time that people understand that it is a living creature ... They no longer are alive.
Sad. Those hedgehogs are in my garden-lot. I'm happy their mum got to raise them. They feed on slugs.
Two or three years ago I found one that was really young and dry. Me and/or a neighbor may have used poison for slugs and if you don't buy the pet-friendly one
you'll kill whatever gets to feed or play (cats) with the slugs. Since then I'm only buying the pet-friendly one. It costs more, but I like having hedgehogs around here, despite that
you don't want to have them too close as they carry tics and insects that you don't want near you.
When stressed (looking for their mum) their call is so loud. Funny for such tinny beasts.
They live at night. Those I met them in the day. That is why they have the eyes half-closed. The wet dirt around is because the day was warm, and I tried to give them a drink.
By the day after they were both gone. So they should still be hanging around. I've seen lots of slugs lately ... I wonder what they're doing !!!

Mgginva, are they popular in the menu, or as pets ?
I learned that north-Africans (my neighbor) and gypsies eat those beasts.

jds,
As one of the North Americans who does tend to eat things many others won't I can say I have never heard of anyone eating a hedgehog. It doesn't look like there's much meat on them and as they are sold as pets it would be expensive. I wouldn't say most Americans are very adventurous when it comes to eating odd critters. Heck we don't even eat horse. Some country folk - especially those living on a very tight budget - do tend to eat whatever they can trap or shoot but that's more of a cultural thing from needing to find and harvest protein. They also tend to eat certain parts of animals city-folk don't usually touch.

Fig visitor stretching out on my CdD Blanc early in the morning covered in dew.

 

Pino, good picture of a praying mantis. I love the colors; it is different from the green one I see. Is this picture taken with a phone or a camera?

Marcel

Thanks Marcel!

Most of the regular visiting praying mantis are bright green or brown.  This is the first one I have seen that is brown on top and green underneath.  Maybe I just didn't notice before.

Photo taken with Cannon EOS T5i.