As she was plotting the evolution of Lepidoptera, Mother Nature must have been in a particularly whimsical mood when she laid down the blueprint for Hemaris thysbe. Drawing on elements of hummingbird, bumblebee, and moth, she evolved an efficient pollinator, an instinctual mimic, and the most adorable bug imaginable. With the onset of July and the arrival of Monarda, the hummingbird clearwing moth is now at its most active, zipping and bobbing between the purple honey pots with hummingbird-like agility, and slurping nectar with an elongated proboscis that would shame any butterfly or bumblebee (longer is always better when it comes to tube-shaped flowers). Although these day-flying moths have a special love for the native beebalms, hummingbird clearwings are equally at home in cultivated gardens with a variety of tubular, nectar-producing flowers (the same flowers that attract hummingbirds).
