Genus Hemaris

Hummingbird Moths

Bee Hawk-Moths (UK)

Clearwing Moths (not recommended because the family Sesiidae has that common name)

Hemaris Dalman, 1816

Perhaps from the Greek hemera (ημερα), meaning day (1), possibly referring to the day-flying habits (PDF factsheet on Hemaris tityus, a European species).

Another possibility is hema- "blood" + -aris "of, pertaining to". hema is an alternate spelling of haema, which is from Greek haima (αιμα)- "blood", which usually adds a "t" when combined (Greek neuters follow different rules from other words ending with "a"), while -aris is strictly a Latin suffix. The two parts shouldn't go together at all, but someone coining a name doesn't have to follow the rules.

4 species in North America listed at All-Leps: diffinis, gracilis, thetis, thysbe

About 23 species total--Holarctic (Wikipedia)

Adults are easy to identify to genus level due to their habit of hovering around flowers like bumblebees; see individual species pages for identification to species level.

Represented throughout North America, including the Arctic.

Larvae feed on a variety of plants from several families, Apocynaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Ericaceae, Rosaceae.

Adults take nectar, preferably from long throated flowers, such as horse mint and are pollinators.