California Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thetis) on White-leaf Monardella by Marc Kummel Via Flickr: This is a fantastic diurnal (daytime) California Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thetis, Sphingidae, Lepidoptera) working new summer flowers of native Coyote Mint aka White-leaf Monardella (Monardella hypoleuca) in the Lamiaceae plant family. For some reason, I haven't been seeing very many of these moths this year, and this is my first photo. I find the moths on a number of different flowers, but these might be their favorites. They are also one of my favorites - they look like spring flowers, but they pick the hot and dry time of the year to flower. Note that the flower is sharp but the moth isn't - they are fast, and they never stop moving! (Well, almost never - see this photo!) (East Camino Cielo, Santa Ynez Mountains, 25 June 2017) It was hot again today, up to about 99° on the upstairs deck. Tomorrow might be even hotter, though our NWS Heat Advisory ends at 9:00 pm tonight. Darn, that means we've had advisory level heat for the last ten days. It's expected to finally start cooling down on Tuesday.