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Hummingbird clearwing moth
Hummingbird clearwing moth
Hemaris thysbe
Moth
The hummingbird clearwing is a day-flying sphinx moth whose adults hover at flowers and feed through a long proboscis, mimicking a hummingbird; the wings carry clear, scale-free patches. Females lay eggs on woody hosts in the honeysuckle, viburnum, hawthorn, and cherry/plum groups, and the green larvae feed on the foliage before pupating in a cocoon at the soil surface. Gardeners who grow both larval host shrubs and deep tubular nectar flowers can support the moth's full life cycle.
Plants in the catalog
Larval host plants · 7
American plum
Prunus americana
Documented
BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; American plum is Prunus americana.
Arrowwood viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
Documented
Viburnum is a documented Hemaris thysbe larval host genus (BAMONA / Wikipedia name V. opulus); arrowwood is a native Viburnum congener.
Beach plum
Prunus maritima
Documented
BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; beach plum is Prunus maritima.
Black cherry
Prunus serotina
Documented
BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; black cherry is Prunus serotina.
Blackhaw viburnum
Viburnum prunifolium
Documented
Viburnum is a documented Hemaris thysbe larval host genus (BAMONA / Wikipedia name V. opulus); blackhaw is a native Viburnum congener.
Chokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Documented
BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; chokecherry is Prunus virginiana.
Green hawthorn
Crataegus viridis
Documented
BAMONA lists hawthorns (Crataegus) among Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; green hawthorn is a Crataegus species.
Nectar plants · 4
Blue vervain
Verbena hastata
Plausible
UW-Madison Horticulture names Verbena bonariensis as a favored adult Hemaris thysbe nectar plant; blue vervain (Verbena hastata) is a congener, inferred not species-cited.
Garden phlox
Phlox paniculata
Plausible
Adults favor pink/purple deep-tubular flowers; garden phlox fits this profile but is not species-specifically cited for H. thysbe.
Scarlet bee balm
Monarda didyma
Documented
UW-Madison Horticulture lists bee balm (Monarda) among adult Hemaris thysbe nectar flowers.
Wild bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Documented
UW-Madison Horticulture lists bee balm (Monarda) as an adult Hemaris thysbe nectar source; wild bergamot is Monarda fistulosa.
Range
Widespread across North America from Alaska and the Canadian prairie provinces east to Newfoundland and south to Florida and Texas, most abundant in the eastern United States and southern Ontario.
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