Narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth
The narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth is a moth that pretends to be a bumblebee. It is fuzzy and has clear wings with only a thin dark border. Most moths fly at night, but this one zooms around flowers in the sunshine.

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Fun facts
It is a bumblebee copycat, which helps keep birds away.
It flies in the daytime, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, which is unusual for its family.
You can see it in May and June.
Even though it lives in many countries, it is quite rare to spot.
Most asked questions about Narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth
?Is the bee hawk-moth a bee?
No, it is a moth. It only looks like a bumblebee to fool birds.
?Can a bee hawk-moth sting?
No. It has no sting and is harmless.
?How big is the narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth?
Its wings measure about 4 to 5 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Hemaris tityus
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Hemaris tityus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by M kutera. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.