The Hummingbird Moth, (Hemaris Diffinis) is one of the most unusual insects that I have ever seen. 
Although it is not a bird, it flies like one, by flapping its wings in a characteristic bird-like motion.
The first time I saw it, I was sure it was in fact a hummingbird. But if you look closely you can see that it has antennae like an insect and not a beak like a bird.
The hummingbird moth is also called a Snowberry Clearwing. It is fond of honeysuckle, viburnum, snowberry, cherry, mint and plum. The one I saw was feeding off the honeysuckle flowers.
It is called a “clearwing” because the scales on its wings are not as numerous as on most butterflies and moths. This gives the wings a translucent appearance. The body of the hummingbird moth is only about an inch and a quarter long, and its abdomen comes in sections which are gold and black or dark brown, much like the colors of a bumblebee.
The hummingbird moth is capable of sharing territory with an actual hummingbird. They have sometimes been seen feeding side by side. But just like a real hummingbird, the hummingbird moth moves very fast and is hard to capture in a photograph.
Some people say “oh these do not sting,” but I know differently from experience. Actually, I felt validated when I found a blog post where a woman was visiting Spain, and a local told her not to get too close to these because they sting. The funny thing is these hummingbird moths seem to be attracted to me, and several times I had to wave these away. The day when I was stung I was just riding my bike, but I was wearing a bright yellow top, and I had tropical sunblock on. Maybe it thought I was a flower. The sting was horrible. I took a picture of it, but would never post it because it is kind of scary.
Ouch! I will be more careful in the future, but so far the hummingbird moth has not shown any interest in me. I do not have a telephoto lens, so in order to get better pictures, I would have to get much closer. However, the hummingbird moth would not let me get any closer than this so far. It is very fast flying and changes its course without much advance notice.