Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

Here's a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. They are sphinx moths aka hawkmoths, and are considered to mimic both hummingbirds and bees. I can easily understand a moth (which has relatively little defensive options) mimicking a bee since bees can sting. I can only assume that their resemblance to hummingbirds is due to:

  1. Very similar feeding habits, since both hover in flight while drinking nectar from flowers.
  2. Hummingbirds are occasionally preyed upon by robberflies and mantises, though they're not the primary prey of such predators. Hummingbird Clearwing Moths might get a free pass from predators that consider them to be weird food that tastes funny, like hummingbirds.
They have a fairly close relative (same genus) that looks similar, the Snowberry Clearwing Moth. They'd be black where the Hummingbird Clearwing has a chestnut-red color. Though the Snowberry Clearwing isn't truly rare, the Hummingbird Clearwing is clearly more common in my area.

August 15, 2020 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve


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