The Slender Clearwing or Graceful Clearwing (Hemaris gracilis) is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Sphingidae

Sphingidae

Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...

 family. It is found from Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 to central Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 along the East Coast and west through New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 to Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 to Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 40-45 mm. It can be distinguished from similar species by a pair of red-brown bands on the sides of the thorax, which vary from green to yellow-green dorsally and sometimes brown with white underneath. They have a red abdomen. The wings are transparent with reddish brown borders. The outer edge of the forewing transparent area is even and the forewing cell has a median row of scales. There are probably two generations per year with adults on wing from March to August. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Pontederia cordata

Pontederia cordata

Pontederia cordata, commonly known as Pickerelweed, is a monocotyledonous aquatic plant native to North and South America. It can be found on pond and lake margins across an extremely large range from eastern Canada south to Argentina. The species is tristylous, meaning the styles of individual...

, Rubus

Rubus

Rubus is a large genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are...

species, Taraxacum officinale

Taraxacum officinale

Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion , is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae . It can be found growing in temperate regions of the world, in lawns, on roadsides, on disturbed banks and shores of water ways, and other areas with moist soils. T...

, Hieracium aurantiacum, and Phlox

Phlox

Phlox is a genus of 67 species of perennial and annual plants found mostly in North America in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open woodland and prairie. Some flower in spring, others in summer and autumn....

species.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on Vaccinium vacillans and Kalmia

Kalmia

Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats and dry, sandy soils Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs...

species. Pupation takes place in a thin walled cocoon under leaf litter.

External links

• Species Detail at Butterflies and Moths of North America