Hemaris thysbe
hee-MAGH-rihsmm THIHS-bee
(Fabricius, 1775) Sesia thysbe

Hemaris thysbe, June 1, 2006, nectaring on Dame's Rocket, courtesy of Joan F. Rickert

Hemaris thysbe, June 13, 2008, Medford, Taylor County, Wisconsin, courtesy of Joan F. Rickert

The white dorsal surfaces of the legs and absence of any black (H. diffinis) or red (H. gracilis) banding runnning from the head to upper lateral thorax are clear in the image above.

Hemaris thysbe, June 13, 2008, Medford, Taylor County, Wisconsin, courtesy of Joan F. Rickert

I have placed an up and a down arrow on the right forewing in the image below to illustrate another character of Hemaris thysbe that is sometimes evident in a photo that does not show the legs or undersides of the head and thorax. In H. thysbe there is a clear projection toward the body of the dark scales on the inner margin of the outer dark border as per the arrow. This indentation is absent in both H. diffinis and H. gracilis, both of which also fly in Wisconsin.

Hemaris thysbe, June 13, 2008, Medford, Taylor County, Wisconsin, courtesy of Joan F. Rickert

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