Summertime Nature at the Sourland Mountain Preserve.
I am beginning to think that I have been taking pictures of two different species of Clearwing or Hummingbird Moths. So looking things up on the web did indicate that there are two similar Hummingbird Moths. Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) and Snowberry Clearwing Moth (Hemaris diffinis). According to the references the Hummingbird Clearwing moth is a bit bigger. Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside. Its wings are transparent with a reddish-brown border. It has light-colored legs, which combined with the lack of striping on the underside is diagnostic. The Snowberry Clearwing moth is a bit smaller. The thorax is golden or olive-golden in color, abdomen is black dorsally with 1-2 segments just prior to terminal end being yellow to various extent, while black ventrally. The legs also tend to be quite dark and there is a black mask running across the eye and along the sides of the thorax. It can be difficult to see the differences in the field, and I have to go by examining the images when I get back to my computer. Even then, I am not sure I am right all of the time.
Today it was mainly the Snowberry Clearwing Moth (with black legs). I am going to have to do some more investigating. The images from the walkabout in the Sourland Mountain Preserve this morning were taken with a Nikon D810a camera and 300 mm f/4 lens. A compromise kit that is not too heavy that I can still hand-hold and provides high quality images that I can crop.
Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.
