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Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk MothsIs this a clearwing moth
Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 2:26 PM
Took this photo in northeastern Illinois. I believe that it is a clearwing moth, but I do not know what type.
Norm Carl
northeastern Illinois near Chicago
Hummingbird Clearwing
Hi Norm,
We are happy to see that you figured out how to send the photo before we had a chance to respond. We believe this is a Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe, but there are closely related species in the genus Hemaris that sometimes confuse us. You can find lots of great information and photos on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website.
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Comments 1
Hi Norm: According to the checklists of moths of Illinois there are only two species of clearwing moths in that state; the Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) and the Snowberry Clearwing (H. diffinis). H. diffinis is a yellow and black bumblebee mimic with a narrow outer forewing margin, so that leaves H. thysbe. This species is most easily confused with the very similar Slender Clearwing (H. gracilis), a species apparently not reported from Illinois but that does occur in states to the north and east. H. thysbe and H. gracilis are distinguished from each other by markings on the flanks below the wings (unfortunately not visible on your photo) and on the forewings. The uneven inner edge of the reddish-brown border of the forewing indicates that yours is H. thysbe. Regards.
K
Posted 22 Oct 2008 at 12:15 pm ¶Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.
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