Cephonodes kingii (Gardenia Bee Hawk Moth)

The adult moths are initially a dirty green colour, but soon lose the scales from the wings, leaving them transparent. The moths then resemble Bumble Bees, hence the name 'Bee Hawks' for the moths in this genus Cephonodes. The green colour of the thorax fades to brown in older museum specimens.

The abdomen is yellow with a black band around the first few abdominal segments, and a dark mark on the next segment. There is a black fringe around the tip of the abdomen. The wings are generally transparent except that the forewings each have a broad opaque area near the tip. The moth has a wingspan of about 5 cms. The moths hover over flowers to feed on nectar, beating their wings so fast that they hum, and are a blur.

The species is normally quite rare, but there has  populations explosions at random intervals of several years.

The species is found over much of Australia, including  Western Australia,  Northern Territory, Queensland,  New South Wales,  Victoria, and  South Australia.