Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris Thysbe)

[letumgo 0]

I saw this beautiful insect flying around my parents flower beds last weekend and I had to try to capture a photo of it to find out what it was. I am guessing that it is a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris Thysbe). What a cool looking little insect when you look at his wings (clear panels in smooth wings that are a blur to the naked eye) and body (kind of looked like a fuzzy crayfish body). I am very pleased that the photos turned out. I had to play around switching lenses on the camera and getting the shutter speed/aperture/ISO settings dialed in to try to capture the wings. Any way, I thought you guys might like to see this one too.

 

High Resolution Version of Best Image

 

Low Resolution Versions of Other Photos

[JSzymczyk 0]

Excellent picture!! this is a widespread species- It's one of only 4 known Sphingiids which are resident in Alaska too. I've collected them in Fairbanks and Tok when I lived up there.

[St Croix Boy 0]

Great pics. I've seen a few of those in pa

[Ghostrider 0]

Nice pics, saw one of them myself last summer at night, buzzing around the flowers.

[Inconnu 0]

Great pictures! I saw one at a place in Southern B.C. a few years ago, they are tres cool indeed.

[JSzymczyk 0]

Nice pics, saw one of them myself last summer at night, buzzing around the flowers.

 

your moth and the Hemaris are not the same animal. Yours is another member of the Sphingiidae (hawkmoths or sphinx moths) but it's a different genus. A little difficult to tell from the pic exactly what it is, but it wasn't Hemaris. My guess is Ceratomia undulosa. There is a world-renowned moth guy up in your area named Bill Oehlkew, in P.E.I. I can PM you his email address if you want a positive ID.

[eastern fly 0]

Very nice pics. I can see a bird wanting to eat that.

[Joe Hard 0]

Great pics!! I could see lots of things wanting to eat that big bug.