- Series:Animals, Transcript English
Psalm 92:5-6
“O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.”
There seems to be no end to the variety and wisdom of design in the creation. Most interesting are those creatures that share important traits and yet are nothing like each other. The whale is one example; it is constructed like a fish but is really a mammal.
The sphinx moth is another such creature. While definitely a moth, it behaves in every way like a hummingbird and feeds on the nectar inside tobacco blooms. As a normal moth, the sphinx could never reach the nectar in these deep-throated blooms, but it has a special tongue like a hummingbird. The moth hovers over the flower while inserting its long tongue into the flower. Its tongue, which is actually longer than the rest of its body, has two grooved halves, which, when fitted together, create what amounts to a long straw to draw out nectar. If the two halves didn’t fit perfectly, the moth would starve to death.
Obviously, the tongue of the first sphinx moth had to be fully formed. As it hovers, the sphinx moth actually rivals the hummingbirds’ 50 wing beats per second with its own wing beat of 25 to 45 times per second!
The wonderfully varied patterns in creation do not speak of relationships forged by millions of years of evolution. Rather, they speak of creative relationships, carefully designed by one all-wise Creator!
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus Christ through Whom all things were made, I pray that I may always be led to give You praise and thanksgiving for all Your wonderful works before men. Amen.
Notes:
Treat Davidson. “Like Hummingbirds.” National Geographic, Vol. 127, No. 6. Photo: The hummingbird hawk moth or the white-lined sphinx hovers in midair while it feeds on nectar from flowers. Courtesy of IronChris. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
