Hummingbird moth: is it really a moth, where they come from, and what else hovers like one

If something that looks like a tiny hummingbird has been hovering over your flowers, you have probably been watching a moth. Two moths share the name. In Britain and Europe it is the hummingbird hawk-moth, card #48 in the Field Guide. In North America the name often refers to the hummingbird clearwing, a sphinx moth that is not in the Field Guide yet. Both fly in daylight, both hover at flowers, and both get mistaken for a bird or a bee.

Is it really a moth?

Yes. Butterfly Conservation describes the hummingbird hawk-moth as a day-flying immigrant from southern Europe and North Africa. Most moths come out at night, which is why this one stands out. The clearwing is also a day flier: Ohio State’s CFAES fact sheet calls it diurnal, meaning active by day, and says its coloring makes it look even more like a hummingbird than other sphinx moths do.

How to tell it from a hummingbird and its look-alikes

The hummingbird hawk-moth looks like a hummingbird in flight. Butterfly Conservation gives its feeding tube as about an inch long and curved, and says it hovers at flowers and darts from one to the next. Three clues help:

• It is out in the day, which is unusual for a moth.
• It hovers in front of a flower rather than settling on it.
• It feeds with a long tongue that uncurls into the flower. A 2012 study in PLOS ONE (Goyret and Kelber) found that it inspects flowers with that tongue while hovering, and that it can use the markings on a flower, known as nectar guides, to guide where it probes.

The clearwing is a different build. Wisconsin Horticulture describes a furry greenish-yellow or tan body with a wide reddish-brown band across the abdomen, and wings with almost no scales, just a dark border. That bare-winged look is where the group gets its name. Its wingspan is about 1.5 to 2.25 inches.

The University of Florida’s IFAS extension explains the trick behind the copying. Many hover flies are black with pale bands and look and fly much like bees and wasps. Predators avoid them because the real bees and wasps sting, so the harmless flies get the benefit of the warning. The drone fly, for example, mimics the European honey bee.

Where they come from, and when

Butterfly Conservation says the hummingbird hawk-moth arrives in Britain from southern Europe and North Africa, is usually seen from May to September, and turns up in many habitats, including gardens. The charity estimated about a tenfold increase in sightings across the UK in 2022. The Wildlife Trusts give a wider window, saying it is listed as seen from April to December, so the exact season in Britain depends on the year and on which source you read.

Our own data points the same way. The iNaturalist research-grade records for card #48 climb through the spring and peak in summer: June, July and August are all at or above 60% of the species’ best month, and July has about 25 times as many records as January. That map is worldwide rather than British, so it shows when people photograph this moth everywhere, not only in Britain.

For the clearwing, Ohio State puts the Midwest peak mainly from June to August, and says it is common across the eastern half of the United States but rare in the Northeast. Wisconsin Horticulture says adults are usually seen in mid-summer and may have one or two generations a year, depending on location and temperature.

Do they breed in the garden?

The Wildlife Trusts say the caterpillars feed on several kinds of bedstraw, and the female lays her eggs on the buds or flowers of those plants. The same page describes the moth as a summer visitor each year, and it does not say directly whether it breeds in Britain. Butterfly Conservation also does not say, so treat any claim that the whole life cycle happens in Britain as unconfirmed.

Our data lists the species as complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, pupa, adult. The young look nothing like the adult. Insect life cycles explains what that means in practice. For the clearwing, Ohio State notes that the caterpillars prefer viburnum.

Are they harmful?

Not to people. Our curated safety read for card #48 is green, which means likely harmless to people, with the advice to avoid handling wildlife. Hover flies cannot sting at all: Illinois Extension says they are true flies, and that yellowjackets are the group most likely to sting. So if an insect looks like a wasp, look again before you pick it up. Hover flies are also useful, since Illinois Extension describes them as significant pollinators and says their larvae eat aphids.

If one of these moths ends up in the house, slide a piece of card under it or put a jar over it and take it outside. It is not a pest, and there is no reason to swat it.

Front desk note: a hummingbird moth working a flowerbed is the best free show in the garden. Butterfly Conservation lists honeysuckle, buddleia and red valerian among the flowers it favours, so those are the plants to leave alone.

If you are not sure whether a hovering insect is a moth, a fly or a bee, a photo in the identifier will suggest a name and tell you how sure it is. The Field Guide’s moths and butterflies has the other cards.

Sources

• Butterfly Conservation: Did you spot the moth that looks like a hummingbird in your garden?
• Wildlife Trusts: Hummingbird hawk-moth
• PLOS ONE: Goyret and Kelber 2012, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034629
• University of Illinois Extension: Hover Flies may Look Like Bees but are Beneficial Flies
• University of Florida IFAS: Drone Fly, Rat-Tailed Maggot, Eristalis tenax (EENY-445)
• Ohio State University CFAES: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Moth: The Sphinx Moths of Ohio
• University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension: Hummingbird Moth, Hemaris thysbe
• Seasonal pattern: iNaturalist research-grade observations, as shown on card #48
• Safety read: Peekabug curated safety levels, as shown on card #48 and card #14