While beautiful, these hummingbird moths are morphological oddities. They make me think of what we might get if we crossed a lobster with a butterfly. I found a couple of nice specimens last summer, and I was stunned by the intricate diversity of their body scales. Each row of setae has a distinctly different shape, forming a repeating pattern following the moth’s abdominal segments. Some of the setae are very iridescent. I could look at these guys for hours.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth eye.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth body scales.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth body scales.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth body scales.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth wing scales
Clearwing Hummingbird moth wing scales
Clearwing Hummingbird moth wing scales
Clearwing Hummingbird moth body scales.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth body scales.
Clearwing Hummingbird moth belly scales.
