Subject: I have never seen anything like this
Geographic location of the bug: Clifford o tario
Date: 08/13/2018
Time: 07:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I was sitting on the deck and this flying insect was at my petunias could you please tell me what it is?
How you want your letter signed: Marlyn wein
Dear Marlyn,
We started our research by verifying your location, which we were guessing might be somewhere in Ireland, and we felt pretty foolish when we eventually realized you failed to capitalize the “O” and you dropped the “n”. This is a diurnal Sphinx Moth in the genus Hemaris. Four members of the genus are reported in “o tario” on Sphingidae of the Americas, and our best guess is that this is the Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe. According to Sphingidae of the Americas: “readily visits flowers by day throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, where it ranges far to the north, … It is not difficult to see why many gardeners would mistake an Hemaris thysbe moth for a small hummingbird as it hovers, sipping nectar from flowers through a long feeding tube. The moth hovers briefly, sipping for only a few seconds before darting off to a new flower. Green body ‘fur’ and burgundy wing scales suggest a small ruby throated hummingbird. Adults can be quite variable.”