That funny looking insect you may have seen in your garden recently that resembles a bumblebee on steriods or a dwarf hummingbird is neither. It’s Hemaris Diffinis, the Snowberry Clearwing or Bumblebee moth.

This day-flying moth is a member of the family Sphigidae, the same as the tomato hornworm. It hovers over flowers, in full sunlight, sipping nectar with a long proboscis or “tongue.” The buzzing of its wings produces a sound like that of a hummingbird (another member of this species is called the Hummingbird Clearwing). Its coloration, which can vary widely, is similar to a bumblebee. The moth is usually found in meadows, gardens, brushy fields and along forest edges from March – September. I shot the photo above in the wildflower meadow next to Galena Creek.

In the same area is one of my favorite wildflowers, Impatiens capensis, the Spotted or Orange Jewelweed. The small trumpet-like flowers hang from 3-5 foot plants growing in moist, rich soils in valleys and stream bottoms. Sometimes called Touch-me-not because of the propensity of its seed pods to explode when disturbed, the inside of the stem is used in folk remedies as a cure for poison ivy rashes, though several controlled studies have indicated no anti-itch properties.