What has the face of a hawk, the fuzziness of a bumblebee, the wings of a dragonfly, the tail of a lobster, the length of a cockroach, and the hovering ability of a hummingbird?
Right! It’s the Clearwing Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris thysbe), which is part of the Hawkmoth family (Sphingidae). They have been very active this month. Here we see one sipping nectar from our catnip flowers (Nepeta cataria) on August 24.
Below, we see one pollinating the last of the milkweed flowers (Asclepias) on August 12:
The clear parts of this species’ wings occur when these moths discard some of their wing scales early in life, perhaps as a camouflaging feature. However, other species of Hummingbird Moths do not have see-through wings. (Brooklin, Maine)