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Hemaris thysbe

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; American plum is Prunus americana.

Viburnum is a documented Hemaris thysbe larval host genus (BAMONA / Wikipedia name V. opulus); arrowwood is a native Viburnum congener.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; beach plum is Prunus maritima.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; black cherry is Prunus serotina.

Viburnum is a documented Hemaris thysbe larval host genus (BAMONA / Wikipedia name V. opulus); blackhaw is a native Viburnum congener.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; chokecherry is Prunus virginiana.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; American plum is Prunus americana.

Viburnum is a documented Hemaris thysbe larval host genus (BAMONA / Wikipedia name V. opulus); arrowwood is a native Viburnum congener.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; beach plum is Prunus maritima.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; black cherry is Prunus serotina.

Viburnum is a documented Hemaris thysbe larval host genus (BAMONA / Wikipedia name V. opulus); blackhaw is a native Viburnum congener.

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; chokecherry is Prunus virginiana.

BAMONA lists hawthorns (Crataegus) among Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; green hawthorn is a Crataegus species.

The Hummingbird Clearwing record documents viburnums among its woody larval hosts; Viburnum opulus is the named viburnum reference used in the existing clearwing host notes.

Hemaris thysbe larvae are recorded on viburnums as well as on honeysuckle and snowberry, so a woodland viburnum colony is a candidate host. Recorded as plausible and not documented because this comes from the general host range of the moth rather than from any source cited on this record, none of which names a moth on Viburnum acerifolium.

Viburnum is a documented larval host genus for Hemaris thysbe, but the species usually named in the host records is Viburnum opulus rather than this one. Recorded as plausible on congener grounds: the association is with the genus, and no source consulted for this record names Viburnum lentago specifically.

Also named on the Wikipedia record. Hemaris thysbe is the day-flying sphinx moth that gets mistaken for a small hummingbird at a border, and viburnums are among its principal larval hosts. Hosting it is a genuinely uncommon credential for a garden shrub and worth knowing before reaching for insecticide over a chewed leaf.

The Hummingbird Clearwing record documents cherry/plum groups among its woody larval hosts; sour cherry is Prunus cerasus, so this is a conservative cultivated-cherry host link.

Hemaris larvae feed on Lonicera among a short list of hosts that also includes viburnum, hawthorn and snowberry, so an exotic bush honeysuckle can genuinely rear a native sphinx moth. Marked plausible because the host records are at genus level for Lonicera rather than specific to this species. This is the strongest honest counterpoint to the rest of the record, and it does not change the conclusion - a naturalised thicket that hosts one generalist moth while suppressing an entire spring ephemeral layer is still a net loss, and the removal-plus-replant sequence keeps the moth host in the planting if a native Lonicera goes back in.

Wired with the caveat stated plainly. The larval record the Wildflower Center publishes for this plant is the SNOWBERRY CLEARWING, Hemaris diffinis, which has no entry in this wildlife catalog and so cannot be linked; the hummingbird clearwing, Hemaris thysbe, is its close relative and does use woody hosts in the honeysuckle group, which is the basis for the link here rather than a published record on Lonicera sempervirens. Both are day-flying sphinx moths that hover at flowers like small hummingbirds, and both will also take nectar at this vine - the deep tube suits a long proboscis as well as it suits a bird bill.

UW-Madison Horticulture names Verbena bonariensis as a favored adult Hemaris thysbe nectar plant; blue vervain (Verbena hastata) is a congener, inferred not species-cited.

The clove fragrance and tubular flower base suit long-tongued day-flying moths, in keeping with the genus's moth-and-butterfly pollination.

Adults favor pink/purple deep-tubular flowers; garden phlox fits this profile but is not species-specifically cited for H. thysbe.

UW-Madison Horticulture lists bee balm (Monarda) among adult Hemaris thysbe nectar flowers.

UW-Madison Horticulture lists bee balm (Monarda) as an adult Hemaris thysbe nectar source; wild bergamot is Monarda fistulosa.

Plotwright. (n.d.). Hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/hummingbird-clearwing