Nature’s Trickster of the Summer Garden
The next time you’re admiring a patch of blooming wildflowers, you might spot a visitor that’ll make you do a double take. Is it a hummingbird? A bee? Look again, because it might be the hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe). This fascinating pollinator calls the Credit River Watershed home.
A Master of Disguise
With its transparent wings, fuzzy body and daytime activity, hummingbird clearwing moths resemble both hummingbirds and bumblebees. It zips through the air like a hummingbird, hovers like one too, but its shimmering wings resemble those of a bee. This clever disguise helps to confuse its predators.
From Caterpillar to Moth
Clearwing moths begin life as a hornworm caterpillar. Named for the harmless but intimidating-looking horn on its tail end, the caterpillar feeds on a variety of woody plants including native honeysuckle, dogbane, cherry, snowberry and hawthorn. It even helps manage some non-native plants like European cranberry bush.
Once the caterpillar completes the pupal stage, where it undergoes a transformation inside its cocoon, it emerges with its wings covered in scales and appears opaque. But after a few short flights, those scales shed, revealing the clear, glassy wings that give the moth its name.
A Pollinator with a Purpose
Like hummingbirds, the clearwing moth hovers in place to sip nectar from deep, tubular flowers. Using a long, straw-like mouthpart called a proboscis, it reaches into blooms that many other pollinators can’t access.
You’ll often find them feeding on wild bergamot, phlox, vetch and clover which are important native plants that rely on pollinators like these to reproduce.
By visiting these long-tubed flowers, the clearwing moth plays an important role in helping to maintain plant diversity across both natural and urban areas of the watershed.
Supporting Pollinators in Your Own Backyard
The clearwing moth spends the winter tucked away in a cocoon under fallen leaves or soil. As you prepare your yard for the winter, consider leaving some leaf litter undisturbed in your garden beds or around native plantings. This can provide essential shelter for these and many other overwintering insects.
Whether you’re in the heart of a city or on the rural edges of the Credit River Watershed, planting native species and leaving space for nature helps to support the complex and beautiful web of life around us.
Next time you see a blur of wings flitting between blooms, don’t be so sure it’s a hummingbird. It might just be one of nature’s most charming impersonators.
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By Dan Schuurman, Specialist, Natural Heritage Inventory