Snowberry

I spotted a resting clearwing moth while I searched for caterpillars in the garden outside the Butterfly House here at the Museum. It was morning, and the day-flying moth probably spent the night where it perched, it was rapidly flapping its wings in shallow beats to warm itself for the first flight of the day.

 

Snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis).
Snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis).

 

Snowberry clearwings visit flowers for nectar, often hovering above rather than perching on the flowers as they sip the sugary liquid.

Both caterpillar and adult moth are attractive creatures. Fortunately, I have a photo of the caterpillar so you may see for yourself.

 

Snowberry clearwing caterpillar (Hemaris diffinis).
Snowberry clearwing caterpillar (Hemaris diffinis).

 

The caterpillars feed on honeysuckle (Lonicera), bush honeysuckle, (Diervilla), snowberry (Symphoricarpos) and surprisingly, dogbane (Apocynum), though I’ve never seen a snowberry caterpillar on dogbane.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.