Beating its wings rapidly, H. thysbe hovers to collect nectar from a variety of flowers.

Hemaris thysbe is found in a large portion of North America, with a range extending from Alaska to Oregon in the west and from Newfoundland to Florida in the east.

The body of an adult Hemaris thysbe moth is spindle shaped, and is largely covered by a thick coat of fur.

As it begins to fly, scales fall off leaving a mostly clear wing with reddish-brown borders and veins.

Southern and eastern populations generally exhibit jagged wing borders, while northern and western ones are usually smooth.

[5] As a caterpillar, H. thysbe feeds on cherry trees, European cranberry bush, hawthorns, dogbane, honeysuckle, and snowberry.

[8] H. thysbe collects nectar from a wide variety of flowers using a long (19–21 millimetres [0.75–0.83 in]) proboscis while hovering above the bloom.

[4][1] Hemaris thysbe lives in second-growth forest, in meadows, and is commonly found in cultivated gardens of suburbia.

[2] Its range extends eastward to Newfoundland and westward to Texas, the Great Plains, and into Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

[4] On the west coast of North America, its range extends from Oregon, up to the Yukon Territory and Alaska.

[7] Due to the variable coloration and wing patterning of H. thysbe, it, along with other members of Hermaris, were described as many different species during the 1800s.

He dissected a number of specimens representing the range of H. thysbe's coloration and geographic scope and found no differences in their reproductive organs.