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Photo#805388
Long fat yellow hovering bee or wasp - Hemaris diffinis

Long fat yellow hovering bee or wasp - Hemaris diffinis
Yardville, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA
July 15, 2013
Size: 1-1/2 to 2"
This insect visited our butterfly bush today. It hovered like a hummingbird. Larger than wasps, but fuzzy looking like a bumble bee. Wide at the head end and tapering down towards the other end. One black stripe. Moving too fast to get a good shot.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Hemaris diffinis moth
Hemaris diffinis or "Snowberry Clearwing" is the insect I saw. Got more info at...
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hemaris-diffinis

Hummingbird Moth
Spending a few hours online looking for a large fat yellow bee or wasp finally led me to a site that answered my question. And this beautiful creature is not a bee, but a moth. I hope it comes to our butterfly bush again. I would love to be able to get a better shot...if it ever stays still enough for me to get one. See a video of one...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCts_tGx4eY&feature=player_embedded#at=48

Hemaris sp.
A clearwing moth similar to this. For more info, see here.. The clearwings are a group within the family Sphingidae (sphinx moths).

 
Clearwing Moth
Thank you for your comment. I love getting info on insects I haven't seen before. Hope to see this one again. Besides butterflies visiting our butterfly bush, we get a lot of bees and wasps on the bush, too. Never thought about this being a moth.

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