''Hemaris'' is a genus of

sphinx moths The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but ...

in the subfamily Macroglossinae, which is native to the Holarctic.Kitching, I. J. and J. Cadiou (2000). ''Hawkmoths of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary Checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae).'' Cornell University Press, New York. Their main host plants are herbs and shrubs of the teasel and honeysuckle families. Moths in genus ''Hemaris'' are known collectively as clearwing moths or hummingbird moths in the US and Canada and bee hawk-moths in Britain. The related

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

hummingbird hawk-moths, genus '' Macroglossum'', are similar in appearance and habits. Both genera have tails that are provided with an expansile truncated tuft of hairs, but only ''Hemaris'' has the disc of the wings transparent, as these scales are dropped soon after eclosion.

Description

The eggs are small, spherical, and pale glossy green in color. Host plants include shrub and vining honeysuckles and teasels. The larvae are small, cylindrical, and covered in granules that often have small bristles. Most larvae are green, brown, and gray, but there are many color forms. All have a distinctive pale dorsolateral longitudinal stripe from head to horn. The pupa is enclosed in a loosely spun cocoon, and is glossy in most species. There is a prominent tubercle or hook alongside each eye. The cremaster of the

chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

is large and flattened. The imagoes, or adults, are small, diurnal moths that resemble bumblebees in shape. They are often mistaken for

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s. The forewings are fully scaled, but in some species patches of scales are lost during the first flight, leaving a glassy

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

area on each wing. The antennae are strongly clubbed in both sexes and each has a small, recurved hook at the end. The abdomen ends in a large fan of setae. The genitalia of the male are asymmetrical; the uncus is divided into two subequal lobes and is sclerotized. The ostium bursae, or genital opening, of the female is angled to the left. Hemaris-Hummingbird-Moth

Species

There are 23 accepted species. Four species are native to North and South America, and three to Europe.Fauna Europae
''Hemaris'' Dalman 1816
/ref> * ''

Hemaris aethra ''Hemaris'' is a genus of Sphingidae, sphinx moths in the subfamily Macroglossinae (moth), Macroglossinae, which is native to the Holarctic.Kitching, I. J. and J. Cadiou (2000). ''Hawkmoths of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary C ...

'' (Strecker, 1875) – Diervilla clearwing7855.2 – Hemaris aethra – (Strecker, 1875)
North America, Moth Photographers Group * ''

Hemaris affinis ''Hemaris affinis'', the honeysuckle bee hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from Mongolia, the Russian Far East, northern, central and eastern China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea and Japan. The wingspan is 43–54&nb ...

'' Bremer, 1861 – honeysuckle bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris aksana ''Hemaris aksana'', the Atlas bee hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Ferdinand Le Cerf in 1923. It is known from the Middle and High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The habitat consists of flower-rich me ...

'' (Le Cerf, 1923) – Atlas bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris alaiana ''Hemaris alaiana'', the Alai bee hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan in 1903. It is known from the Alayskiy Khrebet, Tian Shan, Dzungarian Alatau, Saur and Altai mou ...

'' (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

& Jordan, 1903) – Alai bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris beresowskii ''Hemaris beresowskii'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from south-western China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a populati ...

'' Alpheraky, 1897 * ''

Hemaris croatica ''Hemaris croatica'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1800. Distribution It is found in Balkans, Anatolia and the Caucasus to Iran. Along the Mediterranean coast it is found up t ...

'' (Esper, 1800) – olive bee hawkmoth * '' Hemaris dentata'' (Staudinger, 1887) – Anatolian bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris diffinis ''Hemaris diffinis'', the snowberry clearwing, is a moth of the order Lepidoptera, family Sphingidae. This moth is sometimes called "hummingbird moth" or "flying lobster". This moth should not be confused with the hummingbird hawk-moth of Eur ...

'' (

Boisduval Jean Baptiste Alphonse Déchauffour de Boisduval (24 June 1799 – 30 December 1879) was a French lepidopterist, botanist, and physician. He was one of the most celebrated lepidopterists of France, and was the co-founder of the Société entomol ...

, 1836) – snowberry clearwing * ''

Hemaris ducalis ''Hemaris ducalis'', the Pamir bee hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from the mountains of south-western Xinjiang in China, the western Tian Shan, southern and eastern Kazakhstan up to the Altai Mountains, western Mong ...

'' (Staudinger, 1887) – Pamir bee hawkmoth * '' Hemaris fuciformis'' ( Linnaeus,

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) – broad-bordered bee hawk-moth * ''

Hemaris galunae ''Hemaris galunae'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Ulf Eitschberger, Günter C. Müller and Vasiliy D. Kravchenko in 2005. It is known from Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة ...

'' Eitschberger, Müller & Kravchenko, 2005 – Levant bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris gracilis ''Hemaris gracilis'', the slender clearwing or graceful clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote and Coleman Townsend Robinson in 1865. Distribution It is found in North America ...

'' (Grote & Robinson, 1865) – slender clearwing or graceful clearwing * ''

Hemaris molli ''Hemaris molli'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Ulf Eitschberger, Günter C. Müller and Vasiliy D. Kravchenko in 2005. It is known from Jordan. It is not clear if ''Hemaris molli'' is a valid species. I ...

'' Eitschberger, Müller & Kravchenko, 2005 * ''

Hemaris ottonis ''Hemaris ottonis'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from the Russian Far East, north-eastern China and the Korean Peninsula. The wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip ...

'' (

& Jordan, 1903) * ''

Hemaris radians ''Hemaris radians'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from southern Siberia, Mongolia, the southern Russian Far East, north-eastern and central-eastern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The wingspan is 37–40 mm. The fo ...

'' ( Walker, 1856) * '' Hemaris rubra'' Hampson,

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/small> – Kashmir bee hawkmoth * '' Hemaris saldaitisi'' Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1998 * '' Hemaris saundersii'' ( Walker, 1856) – Saunders' bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris staudingeri ''Hemaris staudingeri'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found from eastern and central China north to the southern part of the Russian Far East. The wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance fro ...

'' Leech, 1890 * '' Hemaris syra'' (Daniel, 1939) – Syrian bee hawkmoth * ''

Hemaris thetis ''Hemaris thetis'', the Rocky Mountain clearwing or California clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1855. It is found from Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and U ...

, 1855 – Rocky Mountain clearwing or California clearwing * ''

Hemaris thysbe ''Hemaris thysbe'', the hummingbird clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae (hawkmoths). Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the undersi ...

'' (

Fabricius Fabricius ( la, smith, german: Schmied, Schmidt) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *people from the Ancient Roman gens Fabricia: **Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome * Johann Goldsmid (1587� ...

, 1775) – hummingbird clearwing * '' Hemaris tityus'' ( Linnaeus,

) – narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth * '' Hemaris venata'' (

Felder Felder is a surname, and may refer to: Persons * Amanda Felder, American professional triathlete * Andreas Felder (b. 1962), Austrian championship ski jumper * Cajetan Freiherr von Felder (1814–1894), Austrian entomologist, jurist, and politician ...

, 1861) Hemaris diffinis MHNT CUT 2010 0 393, Morgan territory, Contra Costa Co, California, male.jpg, ''

'' Hemaris fuciformis MHNT.jpg, '' Hemaris fuciformis'' Hemaris gracilis antennae - MHNT CUT 2010 0 509 - Chester Maine USA - male.jpg, ''

'' Hemaris saundersii - MHNT CUT 2010 0 509 - Simla Indes - male.jpg, '' Hemaris saundersii'' Hemaris thetis MHNT CUT 2010 0 393 Fraser (Colorado), male.jpg, ''

'' Hemaris thysbe - MHNT CUT 2010 0 509 - Enfield Maine USA - male.jpg, ''

'' Hemaris tityus - MHNT CUT 2010 0 510 - Strasbourg France - male.jpg, '' Hemaris tityus''

Gallery

File:Hemaris diffinis - Flickr - Andrea Westmoreland.jpg, File:Hemaris thysbe1.jpg, File:Hemaris fuciformis - Larva 07 (HS).JPG, File:H tityus M Kutera Kielce Upland.jpg,

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q134919 Taxa named by Johan Wilhelm Dalman Moth genera