Hummingbird Clearwing Moths

Here are a couple more of those Hummingbird Clearwing Moths I've shown you before. 

Though hummingbirds are small relative to most birds, these moths are small relative to hummingbirds; they're only around half the size of the birds. Similar to hummingbirds, they rarely land on a flower. Instead they'll drink nectar while hovering next to the flower. (I'm not sure what they do on windy days.)

Both these moths have the burgundy coloring characteristic of the species, though the first one looks mostly yellow in the front half of the body. That's a little atypical; the olive coloring in the 2nd photo is more common in this species.

July 22, 2021 at Fairview Farms

July 23, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve
Photo 148591755, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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