I was out and about this afternoon and ran into this guy on my butterfly bush. I believe it is a Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth. At first glance I thought it was a rather large bumblebee. I couldn’t get a good look at it’s wings as it never sat still long enough, preferring to hover while feeding like a hummingbird does. Using the flash on my digital camera, I was able to capture more detail.
32 thoughts on “Hummingbird Moth”
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My wife and I saw this the other day in our garden and had no idea what it was. thank god for the internet. I seached for quite a while and finially found it. We are also in Kentucky.(Richmond)
Hi Kerry,
I saw a Hummingbird Clearwing the other day in my yard and took these pictures . . .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16867586@N00/
Take care.
Frank in Lexington, KY
Ron
You are about an hour and a half away from me. How odd neither one of us had ever seen one till this summer.
Frank,
Cool photos. I noticed there was a group CSA photo. Is there a local CSA? Lexington isn’t thaaaat far from me.
Kerry,
There are many CSA’s in the Lexington area. Elmwood Stock Farm, Greeley Farm and Berries on Russell Cave are just a few. If you do a quick search at . . .
http://www.localharvest.org
. . . you’ll find a number of CSA’s listed for Lexington. Are you wanting to sell or buy? Lexington is a pretty good place either way.
The photo of the CSA Crew was taken at UK’s Organic Farm. I volunteered with them for awhile.
Frank, thanks for the link. I’ll check it out. I have really cut back on the garden so I would be looking to buy.
I found this moth on my petunias today!
I didn’t even know they existed until now.
I couldn’t decide whether it was a humming bird or a bee,or both and genetically altered .lol
I was awed when my husband found it online at this site.Thanks for having it!
I did a little digging and found this http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3437 It shows the range of this guy to be the eastern half of the US though sitings on the site are sporadic. It is interesting to me that a number of individuals are reporting seeing it for the first time this year. Perhaps the weather was especially kind to the species and this is a good year for them.
I live in Central Illinois and have 2 of these that just love my garden phlox!! They let me get close enough to almost touch them! It’s amazing!
I saw one last Fall also and had been told they were around here.
Just wanted to share!! : )
I saw one of these little guys and could’nt figure out what it was!I live in WV, ande have NEVER seen one before. Thanks for the info! I guess you do learn something new every day.
I was searching the net to find out what these were. I had two of them on my butterfly bush and thought they were baby hummingbirds so I got out my camera and took some pictures. I’d never seen one of these before. I live in NE Ohio. Oh, they like my petunias too!
I live in upstate New York and we had one in our Monarda today. We have often seen them in past years in our butterfly bush.
All: Thanks for the sighting reports. I guess this little guy has been here all along and I have just missed it.
I have never seen one till this year and i work at a graden center in sunman In and they were in our butterfly bush’s i though that it was a big bee too.. so i had to get on here and see what it was for myself i thought that everybody was lying to me about what it was and its name but i guess they were right!
I have never seen these before. I had two in my monardas tonight. I am going to try and get some pictures tomorrow. They also like my butterfly bush. I thought they were baby hummingbirds!
We have been seeing these on our butterfly bushes this year and had no clue of what they were. At first I thought it was a bee, then a hummingbird but with antenna? I knew that wasn’t quite right. So glad to find this site and learn more about nature! I am in Southeastern NC.
saw this on my neighbor’s butterfly bush this afternoon. Like Lisa, at first I thought it was a bee, then perhaps a hummingbird. However, the antennae and legs really confused me. Really glad to have the “mystery” solved. I have never seen anything like this before. I live in the suburbs of Balto., Md.
So that’s what this thing is! I’ve seen it in my rose garden since we planted it 4 summers ago. My cousin 30 miles away in Cincinnati spotted them too. Such cool insects!
I see them often in Virginia in my flower bush
I saw a hummingbird clearwing on my petunias yesterday! I am 34 and have never seen anything like it before! Thankfully the internet helped me figure it out. They are quite remarkable-I thanked God for the moment.
Hi I live in Upstate NY (Capital District Region) and saw one of these for the first time this past weekend fluttering around my butterfly bushes. Thinking it was a hummingbird I hung a hummingbird feeder near the bushes and now I am seeing both in the garden! How nice is that!
I had a hum/bird moth fly in front of me and attack the spicata in my garden. It stayed around for nearly 20 minutes. I wasn’t sure what it was and took photos and then went to the local feed store. The folks there told me of the hum/bird moth. An interesting creature. I live in Upstate NY, near lake Ontario.
Just saw 2 of these yesterday at my butterfly bush in Upstate NY (below the Finger Lakes). They were chasing each other away from the flowers, like hummingbirds do! We watched them for almost an hour before they finally took off. Really cool!
I had no idea they also behaved like hummers in that respect. That is amazing.
I saw one about 15 years ago in Oliver,BC Canada. Thought I was out of my mind. Now I know it exsists……phew…
I, for the first time in my life, saw one of these amazing creatures feeding on a purple flowered plant that I just maintained. It was an incredible vision. It looks as though some creative engineering has been effected. I am 53 and have never seen such a beautiful and unusual insect?
I live in Western Maine and saw one on our Iris today. Wow – I have never seen this bug before.
I have had these in Northeast Tennessee for several years around my butterfly bush… They are so unique and lovely to watch! But like others I never knew they exsisted until about 4 or 5 years ago. I take great pleasure in watching the dozen or so fly from bloom to bloom.
We live in Northeast Ohio, near Cleveland. This is the first summer that we’ve encountered them. They absolutely love my petunias!!! From a distance I thought it was a dragonfly, then a baby hummingbird!! I then looked on the internet to see what it was. We got some great photos! They are really unique.
I live on Lake Ontario, in New York….thought I was crazy describing this flying insect on my butterfly bush one day with a “lobster tail”, then I saw another one in the lavender….this time my husband saw it also! Took me 2 days of searching the internet to find this site!!! what fun to find this….I was begining to think it was a baby hummingbird.
I’d never seen one before today and thought it was a baby hummingbird. It was feeding at my bee balm flowers in Maine!
I live in the UK about 20 miles from London and I saw one of these amazing creatures today , it was hovering over the lawn then shooting sideways and returning to the same spot at incredible speed .
I have never seen one before or indeed heard of this species , i only identified it after I found your site.
i live in north attleboro ma.i have seen this moth in my garden in august 2011 for the first time ever.first i thought it was a small humming bird but after reading your web sight i now know it is a moth.