A Snowberry Clearwing, a very unusual moth, as photographed by Terry Pfardresher!

Terry Pfardresher found something we don’t see very often in her garden in Gualala. She wrote, “Any idea who this character is? Wings are too large for a bumblebee.” It’s a Snowberry Clearwing, Hemaris diffinis, a member of the Sphinx family.

Naturalist Laura Baker identified the diurnal moth. She wrote, “When the adults emerge (eclose), they have scales on their wings, but with a few shudders, the scales fall off, leaving the wings transparent and the moth resembling a bumblebee. Caterpillars feed mainly on snowberry and honeysuckle while adults nectar on a variety of plants.”

Mother Nature is simply amazing!

Thanks to Terry for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

It's cool and windy, with clouds scudding by. It actually looks like we could get some sprinkles!

One thought on “A Snowberry Clearwing, a very unusual moth, as photographed by Terry Pfardresher!

  1. Shari Goforth

    That is super-cool. I just learned about them at The Magical Moth Night at Gualala Arts. I didn’t know we had them here! Nice catch Terry!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

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