Hemaris thetis

Hemaris thetis
Mounted male museum specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Hemaris
Species:	H. thetis
Binomial name
Hemaris thetis Boisduval, 1855[1]
Synonyms
Macroglossa thetis Boisduval, 1855 Macroglossa senta Strecker, 1878 Hemaris senta (Strecker, 1878) Hemaris rubens Edwards, 1875 Hemaris palpalis Grote, 1874 Hemaris minima Frankenbusch, 1925 Hemaris diffinis mcdunnoughi Clark, 1927 Hemaris diffinis jordani Barnes & Benjamin, 1927 Hemaris diffinis heppneri Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1996 Hemaris cynoglossum Edwards, 1875 Hemaris brucei French, 1890

The Rocky Mountain clearwing^[2] or California clearwing (Hemaris thetis) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah west to California and north to British Columbia. The habitat consists of streamsides and meadows in mountainous areas.

The wingspan is 35–50 mm. It is a diurnal species. The head and thorax are brownish-olive or olive-green. The abdomen is black or olive-green above and yellow below, there is a broad yellow band. The wings have a narrow brown border and the clear parts of the wings have a steel-blue glow. The scaled areas of wings range from dark brown to light brownish orange. Each wing has a large transparent patch which covers most of the wing surface.^[3]

There is probably one generation per year with adults on wing from May to August. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Lupinus species.

The larvae feed on Symphoricarpos species.

References

1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
2. "National Atlas of the United States Map Server". Nationalatlas.gov. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
3. "Silkmoths". Silkmoths.bizland.com. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2011-10-19.

External links

• Species Detail at Butterflies and Moths of North America