The Eurasian hummingbird hawkmoth
The Eurasian hummingbird hawkmoth is a small hawkmoth that flies by day, especially in bright sunshine. It takes its name from the way it hovers at flowers like a hummingbird and feeds on nectar through a long proboscis. Its wings beat so fast that they hum.
At rest you would see brown forewings; in flight the bright orange hindwings show. At the end of the abdomen there is a broad tuft like a tail.
Its caterpillars feed on bedstraws. In cooler regions it rarely survives the winter, so there it is mostly a summer visitor arriving from warmer areas.
Clearwing moths
Clearwing moths of the genus Hemaris also hover at flowers by day. Their wings are mostly clear with a dark border, because they lose most of their scales.
The hummingbird clearwing has a wingspan of about 4 to 5.5 cm. It has one or two generations a year, depending on where it lives, the adults fly in summer, and it does not harm plants.
The snowberry clearwing is the one that looks like a bumblebee, with yellow to greenish yellow and black markings on the body.
