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Jan 18, 2016 11:32 PM CST
Name: Morgan
IL (Zone 5b)
Garden Photography Native Plants and Wildflowers Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Winter Sowing Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
I'm a newish member here and am slowly going back to look through older posts. It is something to remind me of summer when it feels like -25F outside.

I love these little day flying sphinx or hummingbird moths. We get three of similar size and shape here, and you should be able to see all three in Minnesota too.

The one you saw is the Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridensis) moth, and the only one that has those glowing yellow stripes that you can see from half way across the yard.
http://www.inaturalist.org/tax...

The other two are more closely related to each other and a bit harder to tell apart from a distance.

Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)
http://www.inaturalist.org/tax...

Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe)
http://www.inaturalist.org/tax...

The Nessus Sphinx is the one I see least frequently, although according to my book all are considered "common".

A couple of years ago I actually saw a Hummingbird Clearwing lays eggs on my arrowwood viburnum. I was able to find the eggs and raise them to adulthood to watch their whole lifecycle, which was a lot of fun.

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