Fly-by-night, showing more mph, tore off (7,4)
I believe the answer is:
emperor moth
'fly-by-night' is the definition.
(example of a nocturnal flier)
'more mph tore off' is the wordplay.
'off' indicates an anagram.
'more'+'mph'+'tore'='moremphtore'
'moremphtore' with letters rearranged gives 'EMPEROR MOTH'.
'showing' acts as a link.
(Another definition for emperor moth that I've seen is " Large insect".)
I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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