My absolute favorite time of the year in the garden is the beginning of summer when it is hot, the days are long and flowers are in full bloom everywhere. I like it hot. Like a lot hot. During that same time, my garden is inundated with a certain creature who happily flies from flower to flower in search of the almighty nectar. And her name is hummingbird moth.
Hummingbird moth and milkweed
Upon first glance, this moth looks and moves just like a hummingbird but upon closer inspection, it is clearly a damn handsome moth. The species that visits my garden year after year is Hemaris thysbe, also known as the hummingbird clearwing. Some facts about this hummingbird moth:
- They hover in the air and unfurl their long tongue to sip nectar just like the hummingbird.
- They are typically an olive and burgundy color.
- They range from Alaska to Oregon in the west and Maine to Florida in the east. They are most commonly found in the east, typically in your standard suburban garden.
- The caterpillars feeds off a number of different plants including Honeysuckle and Hawthorn, both of which are located on my property (who knew?)
- They then burrow into the soil to overwinter.
- The moth emerges in late spring with red scales which it loses upon its first flight. The wings are then transparent, hence the name “clearwing”.
- They are most commonly seen during the heat of day in summer and most often witnessed sipping the nectar of the Bee Balm plant.
- They lay their eggs on the underside of leaves and those eggs hatch within a week or so.
While they can be difficult to photograph due to their constant motion, I am up for the challenge each summer and enjoy spending hours following them around like an infant chasing a balloon.
Here is a hummingbird moth enjoying my phlox.
Hummingbird moth and Phlox
Hummingbird moth and phlox
Hummingbird moth and phlox
And as mentioned previously, two of them devouring the nectar of their favorite flower, Monarda (Bee Balm).
Hummingbird moth and Bee Balm
Summer cannot come soon enough.
You have no idea how thrilled I am to see this post! No one ever talks about the hummingbird moth, and I think they are the most spectacular creatures!!! I first noticed one on my flowers about ten years ago when a contractor and I were talking on my front porch about some project……Out of the corner of my eye, I see this ‘thing’, it looked and behaved like a miniature hummingbird, but of course I knew it wasn’t that. The guy on the porch and I stopped our conversation and just watched it in awe for several minutes. We were both dumbfounded. When I looked it up later on the Internet, I thought, ‘of course! It’s a hummingbird moth!’ (That is exactly what it looked like). Thank you thank you thank you for writing about this!! I have since seen hummingbird moths in my garden periodically over the years, but it is always such a surprise and such a new joy. They seem to appear from nowhere! And very few people know what I’m talking about when I mention ‘hummingbird moths’.
Hi Kathy – happy to oblige. I could watch these guys for days and can’t get enough of photographing them. Nice to see someone enjoys them as much as I do. more photos to come for sure!
Great pictures! I live in northern NJ and I don’t recall ever seeing a hummingbird moth in my garden. I will pay closer attention to my honeysuckle this year and hope to see one! Thanks for the info and pictures.
Hi Clare – where in Northern NJ do you live? I grew up in Midland Park and my parents only recently moved away from there.
Fantastic pictures of this little guy. I’ve only ever seen hummingbird moth in my yard by the rhododendrons when they are in bloom.
Glory – aren’t they the best? What tine of year do you typically see them?
Really nice captures of your hummingbird moth, distinctively showing their delicate clear wings.
I do spot a hummingbird moth on occasion each year in my gardens but can’t say for sure if it is the ‘clearwing’.
Guess I’ll need to observe more closely.
Deborah – they are so active and tough to get a good photo of them. Have you ever taken any pics of them?
NO- I haven’t !
Your photography is most impressive, John. I’m rather a novice but am enjoying learning and following a day of gardening thoroughly enjoy getting out to shoot a few photos of our hard work. Really love these photos of the hummingbird moth.
Thanks so much Linda! It is a challenge following those critters but I love it.