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Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird MothsRETURN TO HUMMINGBIRD MOTHS
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Size: 1.25" - 2.0"
The Snowberry Clearwing Moth is a small hummingbird moth which more closely resembles a large bumblebee rather than a hummingbird.
Like other hummingbird moths, this one flies during daylight. A similar, but larger, sphinx moth is the (Hemaris thysbe) Hummingbird Clearwing Moth.
Which plants does it visit most often in my garden? Coral honeysuckle and butterfly bush.
See Journal below.
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I have used a digital camera to photograph the whole life cycle of the moth in this photo.
The eggs were deposited on a coral honeysuckle leaf in May and this very moth emerged from its pupa in July.
All images on this page are copyright protected.
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Life cycle Journal of Snowberry Clearwing Moth from Central Texas Location |
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May 16, 2002 - Female deposited these eggs on the coral honeysuckle leaves. I've seen them depositing eggs in April.
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May 22, 2002 - First eggs hatched this morning.
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May 26, 2002 - Now four days old. Much more detail is visible including nine spots down the side, a raised yellow anterior rim at the head. Without the magic of macro photography, the rear horn looks like a tiny black hair on a caterpillar that is smaller than a baking "cookie sprinkle" or icing sprinkle.
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FUN SEARCH: Click here to search for the
five young caterpillars on the leaves.
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 June 2, 2002
Notice the yellow at the base of the horn and the yellow anterior rim behind the head. These horns are not stingers as some folks have feared.
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 June 8, 2002
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Here is a good view of the underside of the caterpillar only a few days before it buried itself.
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First Snowberry Clearwing moth pupa.
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Two moths emerged on the morning of July 2, 2002.
I was lucky to get this photo before the moth had flown around enough to lose the scales on its wings. Compare these wings to the wings in the photo at the top of this page.
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Concerned that these caterpillars are destroying your garden? Remove them and rear them away from your garden as I did. (See bottom of main Hummingbird Moths page.)
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