Snowberry Clearwing, PNP

On a still-hot but overcast morning, I drove up to the Preston Nature Preserve to help lead an Avalonia public walk through what I hoped would be the prettiest of times: the grand opening of more than an acre of Bee Balm. Last year, these tubed flowers put on a spectacular display and lured in dozens of butterflies, Great Spangled Fritillaries in particular. This year, however, the Bee Balm was much more spotty, so the show was not as ooh-and-ahh compelling. That said, there was still one real lepidopteran boon for this observer: the Bee Balm proved irresistible to the Sphinx moths that are mini-mimics of hummingbirds. When I saw one of these amazing creatures working the flowers, I excused myself from the group and risked yet another bout of Lyme as I waded through the meadow grass into the Monarda. The hummingbird moth paid me little heed, so I was able to get quite close and capture the critter in fine detail. That helped me make a positive ID—the black line through the eye is a sure field mark that tells the observer "Snowberry Clearwing." Praise be... I was afraid that this summer was going to go by without a single Hemaris capture.