Hemaris
Encyclopedia
Hemaris is a Holarctic
genus of sphinx moths
, consisting of about 17 species living in the Holarctic
, four of which fly in North and South America, three fly in Europe. Their main host plants are herbs and shrubs of the Dipsacaceae
(Teasel) and Caprifoliaceae
(Honeysuckle) families. Moths in the Hemaris genus are collectively called Clearwing Moths or Hummingbird Moths in the US
, and Bee Hawk-Moths in Britain.
The larvae are small, cylindrical, and granulose. The granules often have small bristles. While most larvae are green and brown, many color forms exist. All have a distinctive pale dorso-lateral longitudinal stripe from head to horn.
Pupa
e are enclosed in a loosely spun cocoon, and are glossy in most species. There is a prominent tubercle
, or hook, alongside each eye. The cremaster is large, and flattened.
The imago
s, or adults, are small, diurnal
moths that resemble bumblebees in shape. They are often mistaken for hummingbird
s, which is why their common name is hummingbird moths. The forewings have hyaline
areas or are fully scaled. The species with hyaline areas are initially with covered scales, but these are shed during their first flight. The antennae are strongly clubbed in both sexes, with a small recurved hook at the end. The abdomen
ends in a large fan-tail of seta
e which resembles a lobster
tail.
The genitalia of the male are asymmetrical, having the uncus
divided and the two lobes subequal, heavily sclerotized with a rounded apex. The ostium bursae of the female is angled to the left.
Holarctic
The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...
genus of sphinx moths
Sphingidae
Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...
, consisting of about 17 species living in the Holarctic
Holarctic
The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...
, four of which fly in North and South America, three fly in Europe. Their main host plants are herbs and shrubs of the Dipsacaceae
Dipsacaceae
The Dipsacaceae, or teasel family, of the order Dipsacales contains 350 species of perennial or biennial herbs and shrubs in eleven genera. Native to most temperate climates, they are found in Europe, Asia and Africa...
(Teasel) and Caprifoliaceae
Caprifoliaceae
The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade consisting of about 800 dicotyledonous flowering plants, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution; centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.They are mostly...
(Honeysuckle) families. Moths in the Hemaris genus are collectively called Clearwing Moths or Hummingbird Moths in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Bee Hawk-Moths in Britain.
Form
Eggs are small, spherical, and pale glossy green in color.The larvae are small, cylindrical, and granulose. The granules often have small bristles. While most larvae are green and brown, many color forms exist. All have a distinctive pale dorso-lateral longitudinal stripe from head to horn.
Pupa
Pupa
A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago...
e are enclosed in a loosely spun cocoon, and are glossy in most species. There is a prominent tubercle
Tubercle
A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, but it has slightly different meaning depending on which family of plants or animals it is used to refer to....
, or hook, alongside each eye. The cremaster is large, and flattened.
The imago
Imago
In biology, the imago is the last stage of development of an insect, after the last ecdysis of an incomplete metamorphosis, or after emergence from the pupa where the metamorphosis is complete...
s, or adults, are small, diurnal
Diurnal animal
Diurnality is a plant or animal behavior characterized by activity during the day and sleeping at night.-In animals:Animals that are not diurnal might be nocturnal or crepuscular . Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects, reptiles and birds...
moths that resemble bumblebees in shape. They are often mistaken for hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
s, which is why their common name is hummingbird moths. The forewings have hyaline
Hyaline
The term hyaline denotes a substance with a glass-like appearance.-Histopathology:In histopathological medical usage, a hyaline substance appears glassy and pink after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin — usually it is an acellular, proteinaceous material...
areas or are fully scaled. The species with hyaline areas are initially with covered scales, but these are shed during their first flight. The antennae are strongly clubbed in both sexes, with a small recurved hook at the end. The abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
ends in a large fan-tail of seta
Seta
Seta is a biological term derived from the Latin word for "bristle". It refers to a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.-Animal setae:In zoology, most "setae" occur in invertebrates....
e which resembles a lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
tail.
The genitalia of the male are asymmetrical, having the uncus
Uncus
The anterior extremity of the Parahippocampal gyrus is recurved in the form of a hook, the uncus, which is separated from the apex of the temporal lobe by a slight fissure, the incisura temporalis....
divided and the two lobes subequal, heavily sclerotized with a rounded apex. The ostium bursae of the female is angled to the left.
Species
- Hemaris affinisHemaris affinisHemaris affinis is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Mongolia, the Russian Far East, northern, central and eastern China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea and Japan....
- (Bremer 1861) - Hemaris aksanaHemaris aksanaThe Atlas Bee Hawkmoth is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from the Middle and High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The habitat consists of flower-rich meadows between 1,300 and 2,500 meters....
- (Le Cerf 1923) - Hemaris alaianaHemaris alaianaThe Alai Bee Hawkmoth is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from the Alayskiy Khrebat, Tian Shan, Dzhungarskiy Alatau, Saur and Altai Mountains, from Tajikistan and eastern Kazakhstan to western Mongolia. The habitat consists of montane meadows and woodland glades rich in flowers,...
- (Rothschild & Jordan, 1903) - Hemaris beresowskiiHemaris beresowskiiHemaris beresowskii is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from south-western China.There is a transparent discal cell on the forewing which is generally divided longitudinally by a vestigial scaled fold. The hindwing upperside very similar to Hemaris ottonis....
- Alpheraky 1897 - Hemaris croaticaHemaris croaticaHemaris croatica is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found on the Balkan, Anatolia and the Caucasus to Iran. Along the Mediterranean coast it is found up to northern Israel. There are local populations on the Crimea and in eastern Ukraine and western Kazachstan.The wingspan is 36-64 mm up to...
- (Esper 1800) - Hemaris dentataHemaris dentataThe Anatolian Bee Hawkmoth is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from southern Turkey as far west as the Toros Mountains....
- (Staudinger 1887) - Hemaris diffinisHemaris diffinisThe Snowberry Clearwing is a moth of the order Lepidoptera, family Sphingidae.-Adults:It is about 1.25”- 2”. The moth's abdomen has yellow and black segments much like those of the bumblebee, whom it might be mistaken for due to its color and flight pattern similarities...
- (Boisduval 1836) - Hemaris ducalisHemaris ducalisHemaris ducalis is a moth of the Sphingidae family. 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 Mongolia, southern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan and...
- (Staudinger 1887) - Hemaris fuciformisHemaris fuciformisHemaris fuciformis, known as the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in North Africa, Europe and Central and Eastern Asia.The wingspan is...
- (Linnaeus 1758) - Hemaris galunaeHemaris galunaeHemaris galunae is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Syria.Some authors regard Hemaris galunae as a dry zone form of H. tityus or as an isolated eastern population of H. aksana, left stranded as North Africa dried out after the last ice age...
- Eitschberger, Müller & Kravchenko, 2005 - Hemaris gracilisHemaris gracilisThe Slender Clearwing or Graceful Clearwing is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from Nova Scotia to central Florida along the East Coast and west through New England to Michigan to Saskatchewan....
- (Grote & Robinson 1865) - Hemaris molliHemaris molliHemaris molli is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Jordan.It is not clear if Hemaris molli is a valid species. It looks superficially like Hemaris fuciformis, although it lacks the dividing line of scales in the forewing cell. Furthermore, the genitalial preparation is close to that...
- Eitschberger, Müller & Kravchenko, 2005 - Hemaris ottonisHemaris ottonisHemaris ottonis is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from the Russian Far East, north-eastern China and the Korean Peninsula.The wingspan is 37-40 mm. It is similar to Hemaris staudingeri but distinguishable by the pale lateral stripes on the upperside of the thorax...
- Rothschild & Jordan 1903 - Hemaris radiansHemaris radiansHemaris radians is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from southern Siberia, Mongolia, the southern Russian Far East, north-eastern and central-eastern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan....
- (Walker 1856) - Hemaris rubraHemaris rubraThe Kashmir Bee Hawkmoth is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from a number of valleys in Kashmir. The habitat consists of flower-rich meadows at around 2,500 meters....
- Hampson 1893 - Hemaris saldaitisiHemaris saldaitisiHemaris saldaitisi is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Tuva in Russia.It is similar to Hemaris tityus, but the marginal forewing band is very narrow and that of the hindwing is almost absent...
- Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1998 - Hemaris saundersiiHemaris saundersiiSaunders' Bee Hawkmoth is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from southern Kashmir, northern Pakistan, northern India and north-eastern Afghanistan, eastwards along the Himalayan foothills of India to Bangladesh and northern Myanmar...
- (Walker 1856) - Hemaris staudingeriHemaris staudingeriHemaris staudingeri is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from eastern and central China north to the southern part of the Russian Far East....
- Leech 1890 - Hemaris syraHemaris syraThe Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoth is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from southern and eastern Turkey, the western Zagros Mountains and northern Alborz Mountains of Iran, the Kopet Dag Mountains of Turkmenistan, western Jordan and northern Israel...
- (Daniel 1939) - Hemaris thetis - Boisduval, 1855
- Hemaris thysbeHemaris thysbeHemaris thysbe, or the Hummingbird Clearwing, is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It lives in Alaska and the Northwest Territories south through British Columbia to Oregon; east through the Great Plains and the Great Lakes area to Maine and Newfoundland; south to Florida and Texas.Adults are...
- (Fabricius 1775) - Hemaris tityusHemaris tityusHemaris tityus, the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, is one of two similar species of sphingid moth occurring in Britain that closely mimic a bumblebee. It has a wide range, from Ireland across temperate Europe to the Ural Mountains, western Siberia, Novosibirsk and the Altai...
- (Linnaeus 1758) - Hemaris venataHemaris venataHemaris venata is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Seram and Papua New Guinea.The antenna is slender with a long hook. The underside of the thorax, legs, abdomen and apex of the anal tuft are yellow....
- Felder 1861