Currant Clearwing vs Tailed Jay

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Currant Clearwing Tailed Jay
Scientific Name Synanthedon tipuliformis Graphium agamemnon
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Sesiidae Papilionidae
Size 17-22 mm wingspan Wingspan 80-100mm
Habitat Underground Farmland
Diet Omnivores Herbivores
Regions Europe, temperate Asia (introduced worldwide) Asia, Oceania
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Currant Clearwing

A small wasp-mimicking moth with transparent wings and a black body banded with yellow. Its larvae bore into the stems of currant and gooseberry bushes.

💡

Did You Know?

Its wasp mimicry is so convincing that gardeners who encounter it rarely realise they are looking at a moth.

Tailed Jay

A fast-flying black swallowtail butterfly covered with spots of green or blue-green. It rarely settles and is constantly in motion.

💡

Did You Know?

It is one of the few butterflies that flaps its wings even while feeding on flowers never fully stopping.