Bug FAQSnowberry Clearwing
Hemaris diffinis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae
Also called: Bumblebee Moth, Snowberry Clearwing Moth
The Snowberry Clearwing is a medium-sized moth with clear wings and a bumblebee-like striped abdomen. It flies by day, sometimes into evening, and is found across much of North America. Its caterpillars eat a variety of plants such as dogbane, honeysuckle, and viburnum.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The abdomen has alternating yellow and black bands like a bumblebee, and the wings are mostly clear because they lack many scales.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 32 to 51 mm (1.25 to 2 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is active in daylight and may continue flying into the evening when nectar is available.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on dogbane, honeysuckle, viburnum, amsonia, triosteum, diervilla and snowberry.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing during the day and may stay active into evening when nectar sources are good.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
In Canada it occurs from the Northwest Territories through British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec; in the U.S. it ranges from California and Baja California northward to the Midwest and the East Coast down to Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Do not confuse it with the European hummingbird hawk-moth.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 49 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Sphingidae)
White-lined SphinxHyles lineataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Eurasian Hummingbird HawkmothMacroglossum stellatarum
Carolina SphinxManduca sextaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Hummingbird ClearwingHemaris thysbeDamages trees, gardens or crops
Elephant HawkmothDeilephila elpenor
Convolvulus HawkmothAgrius convolvuliDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemaris_diffinis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.