Clearwing Moths

I've seen a lot of hummingbird moths around southern New Jersey lately. Buzzing. Flying fast. Hovering at flowers. Click to enlarge.

You might think it is a tiny hummingbird at first, but on closer inspection you'll see the antennae. Also note that you can see right through its fast-moving wings. This is the hummingbird clearwing moth, Hemaris thysbe.

Also note the long probing proboscis it uses for collecting nectar from flowers.

Check out the cute curly proboscis on this one.

In southern New Jersey, I often see another kind. This one is sometimes called a bumblebee moth. It's the snowberry clearwing moth, Hemaris difinis. It's black and yellow and has a stripe on its face.

See the difference? It looks like a huge fuzzy bumblebee.

For comparison, here is an actual hummingbird. A female ruby-throated hummingbird.

Never mistaken for a moth.

Creature Of The Year Awards, 2021!

 

Competition was stiff for the 2021 Urban Wildlife Guide Creature Of The Year Award. Congratulations to the winner, the Golden Northern Bumblebee! This handsome creature has appeared in the blog many times, and was featured in "My Favorite Bee" this year. Click on this sentence to revisit that blog post and see more photos of the Goden Northern Bumblebee. Take a bow you lovely fuzzy bee!

In the event that the bumblebee is unable to fulfill its duties as Creature Of The Year, the first runner-up, the amazing hummingbird clearwing moth will step in. Congratulations you stunning, mothy, master-of-disguise! Click the photos to enlarge them.

Hummingbird Moth

 

This hummingbird moth hovered for a rare split second as I watched through the camera lens; I usually photograph hummingbird-moth-blurs as the fast-moving things fly away. Note the detail of this one's lovely long curled proboscis. That thing can snake out and retract like a birthday party noisemaker. Click to enlarge.

People often mistake this big insect for a small hummingbird and it's easy to see why from the body shape, posture, and rapidly beating wings. But on closer inspection you will see that the moth has a pair of antennae, two pairs of wings, and six legs. And that proboscis. To me, seeing one of these is just as exciting as spotting a hummingbird. 

The hummingbird moth belongs to a larger group called sphinx moths or hawk moths that mostly fly by day and hover in front of flowers to feed. This one is in the sphinx moth genus, Hemaris, sometimes called clearwing moths because they have scale-free transparent areas on their wings. Look at the pictures again -- you can see right through their wings. Now that's a cool moth!

A Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

The hummingbird clearwing moth, Hemaris thysbe, has a wingspan of about two inches. Click to enlarge. 

The moth in the picture is hovering in the air while sipping nectar from a wild bergamot blossom. I spied it in Brooklyn Bridge Park this week. Initially, it is easy to mistake this fat furry reddish moth for a tiny hummingbird. Then it comes into focus and you see the antennae, the proboscis, and all the legs. In all the photos I took of this moth, it rested its front pair of legs on the blossom while drinking.