Bug card No. 0759 of 1,500

Hummingbird clearwing

Hemaris thysbe

Name means: “probably after Thisbe, a girl in an old Roman story, whose reddish scarf matches the moth's colour”

Eats: Nectar and pollen MothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The hummingbird clearwing is a furry olive green and dark red moth with see-through wings. It hovers in front of flowers and beats its wings so fast that people often think it is a tiny hummingbird or a bumblebee. It even flies in the daytime, when the sun is hot.

Lives in

Much of North America, from Alaska and Newfoundland down to Florida

Wingspan

4 to 5.5 cm (1.6 to 2.2 in)

Top speed

about 37 km/h (23 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It does not bite or sting.

What does it eat?

It drinks nectar with a long tongue while hovering, and loves pink and purple flowers. Its caterpillar eats honeysuckle, dogbane, snowberry and leaves of cherry trees and hawthorns.

Photo of Hummingbird clearwing — Picture by Judy Gallagher. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

wings as wide as 1.5 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 10 seconds

How big is Hummingbird clearwing compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

Hummingbird clearwing about 37 km/h (23 mph)

A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

When it first comes out, its wings are covered in dark scales. The scales fall off as it starts to fly, leaving clear windows.

Its tongue is about 2 centimetres long, perfect for reaching deep into flowers.

Unlike most moths, it has no ears.

Its caterpillar is yellowish green with a little white horn on its tail end.

It spends the winter as a hard brown pupa buried in the soil.

you asked

Most asked questions about Hummingbird clearwing

?Is the hummingbird clearwing a hummingbird?

No. It is a moth that hovers and drinks from flowers just like a hummingbird.

?How big is a hummingbird clearwing?

Its wings are about 4 to 5.5 centimetres across.

?When can you see a hummingbird clearwing?

In the daytime in summer, often in gardens and meadows with lots of flowers.

Myth buster

Myth: That little fast flier at the flowers is a hummingbird.

Truth: No. The hummingbird clearwing is a moth that hovers and drinks from flowers just like a hummingbird.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Hemaris thysbe
Named by: Fabricius, 1775
Group: Moths
Family: Sphingidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
Lives on: North America

Where the facts come from

Hemaris thysbe (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Judy Gallagher. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.