Please help me ID Snakie -Giant Caterpillar
Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
July 5, 2011 2:04 am
Dear Mr.B.,
I found this snakeike creature in the yard. it is about 6-inches long, with contrastng brown and black colours , resembling and behaving like a snake. I don’t know if this was just me or my anti-snake/spider ’sensors’ going off, but I jumped a bit at first.
It was found this July in tropical environment, with mediterranean/savannah like environment, but in recent rainy wearher. I am located in Port Moresby in (Papua) New Guinea. I just hoped somone could assist. This is the largest caterpillar I have ever seen until your wb page about the French caterpillar.-July 2011. I am not a collector but curious and scientifically minded.
Anyway thanks for your attention. . –
Signature: Nick.L
Hornworm from New Guinea
Hi Nick,
While we are unable to determine the species at the moment, we can tell you that this Hornworm is the larva of a Sphinx Moth or Hawkmoth in the family Sphingidae.
¶ Posted 05 July 2011 § ‡ ° What’s this bug
Location: West Virginia
June 30, 2011 2:53 pm
Hi there. I have seen this guy twice now and have no idea what kind of critter it is. Any ideas? Thanks much.
Signature: Bill Wells
Tomato Hornworm parasitized by Chalcid Wasp
Hi Bill,
The caterpillar is a Tomato Hornworm, and it has been parasitized by a Chalcid Wasp. The female Chalcid Wasp lays her eggs inside the body of the Hornworm, and the larval wasps feed on the tissues of the Hornworm. Eventually, the Chalcid Larvae burrow to the surface and form cocoons, which is what you are seeing. Here is a nice set of images from BugGuide. The Hornworm will not live to metamorphose into a moth.
Caterpillar id?
Location: belle vernon, pa
June 16, 2011 2:43 pm
I was just wondering what these caterpillars are and if they’re toxic or not. We have thousands here on a large bush and when I noticed them one struck at me. And my 2 year old son plays around and under the bush and I need to know what I should do.. leave them be or remove the bush?
But still I would love to know what they are because they’re quite beautiful.
Signature: Savannah Chamberlain
Catalpa Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Savannah,
This is the caterpillar of a Catalpa Sphinx, Ceratomia catalpae. The excellent Sphingidae of the Americas website does not have any examples of caterpillars with markings like your individual, however, they do state: “Colouration of mature larvae is somewhat variable, and there appear to be two primary color phases, dark and pale. In the dark phase, there is a broad, solid black band down the back, bordered by white lines. The sides are yellowish with some black spots and vertical lines.” BugGuide does have a photo of a Catalpa Sphinx with your coloration. They are not toxic and they pose no threat.
¶ Posted 20 June 2011 § ‡ ° Name that bug?
Location: Perth, Western Australia
May 13, 2011 3:50 am
Hi,
We have passed this around our office (staff of over a hundred), and no one has been able to identify.
Please help us!!
Signature: Unknown
Vine Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Dear Unknown,
We quickly identified your caterpillar as Hippotion celerio on the Butterfly House website devoted to the Lepidoptera of Australia. It is commonly called a Gabi Moth or Vine Hawkmoth. The Butterfly House website indicates: “This Caterpillar occurs world-wide. It can occur in several different colour forms: green, brown, red or dark grey. It usually has an eyespot each side of the first and second abdominal segments, those on the first segment being larger. There are variable cryptic stripes and bands along the rest of the body. The Caterpillar has a tailhorn curved slightly backwards which tapers to a point.” This is actually an Old World species and it is not found in North America or South America. According to the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic website, it is described as: “A notable migrant in most years from tropical Africa and India to the western Palaearctic region. In warm years, new colonies may even be established in North Africa and Europe, so the delineation between resident and migrant ranges cannot be clearly defined. It is, however, resident in the Canary Islands, and probably also in the Azores and along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It is certainly resident in many areas of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula (Pittaway, 1979b), and Egypt (Badr et al., 1985). Extra-limital range. Tropical Africa, Asia and Australia, with occasional records from northern New Zealand.” The caterpillar in your photo is reacting as though it was threatened based on this information on the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic website: “As with most larvae exhibiting anterior eye-spots, the head is retracted when the larva is alarmed, expanding the large eye-spots on the first abdominal segment. When feeding, it rarely consumes the whole of a leaf; shoots with quarter- or half-eaten leaves often indicate the presence of a larva. Whereas young larvae may be found beneath a leaf, fully-grown specimens usually rest away from the feeding area, farther down the stem.” This species is known to feed on grape as well as numerous other plants.
never seen creature
Location: Melbourne, Australia
May 9, 2011 8:12 am
I never seen this creature in my life. I found its family in load of my mulch. It do not have any feet but moves very slowly.
Signature: Bob
Sphinx Moth Pupa: Agrius convolvuli
Dear Bob,
You have unearthed the Pupa of a Sphinx Moth in the family Sphingidae. This is a large family with a global distribution and there are 65 species listed on the Sphingidae of Australia web page. All of the species have pupae with a similar morphology and we are uncertain of the exact species you have found. Each species has a different food plant or plants, and knowing what plants were growing in the vicinity of the mulching in your garden, or in the vicinity where the load of mulch was produced before its delivery to your home might facilitate the identification process. You did not provide information on the load of mulch. Was it newly delivered? Though there are subtle differences in the anatomy of the various species of Sphinx Moth Pupae, they do share enough general traits to ascertain at least a family identification. The shape of a Sphinx Moth Pupa has often been described as looking like a jug with a handle. The handle is actually the case for the proboscis, the long tubular mouthparts that are used to sip nectar from blossoms much the way we humans drink from a straw. Sphinx Moths have among the longest proboscises in the insect world, and the organ is coiled when not in use, and when extended during feeding it may be several inches long. The current record for the longest proboscis is held by Morgan’s Sphinx Moth, Xanthopan morganii, a species from Madagascar which was hypothesized to exist many years before its discovery there. The Morgan’s Sphinx Moth has a nearly foot long proboscis, and when Charles Darwin was presented a Madagascar Orchid with a long nectary, he is reported to have written in a letter: “I have just received…a Box…from Mr Bateman with the astounding Angræcum sesquipedalia with a nectary a foot long— Good Heavens what insect can suck it”? Curious readers may read about the evolutionary theories of Alfred Russel Wallace who supported Darwin’s initial claim by visiting the Alfred Russel Wallace website. The casing for the proboscis in the pupae of Sphinx Moths is shorter than the actual organ, and it would be curious to know how it actually forms during the metamorphosis process. You may decide to do additional research if your query demands a species identification for your Sphinx Moth Pupa and we would also entertain the possibility that one of our readers might be able to provide information on the actual identity of this Sphinx Moth Pupa.
Update
Thanks to a comment from Bostjan Dvorak, we now know that this is Agrius convolvuli, the Convolvulus Hawkmoth. Here is a page from the Sphingidae of Australia website.
Caterpillar
Location: Rio Napr Ecuador
May 6, 2011 6:53 pm
I have a photo of a caterpillar taken in the rio nape region of ecuador and would like to no the species please
Many thanks
Signature: Mark Whittaker
Fig Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Mark,
This gargantuan caterpillar is a Fig Sphinx Caterpillar, Pachylia ficus, and it ranges from the southern portions of the U.S. into South America. The color pattern is quite distinctive, but the species is quite variable and there are also brown and green morphs which you may see in our archives as well as on the wonderful Sphingidae of the Americas website.
¶ Posted 07 May 2011 § ‡ ° caterpillar?
Location: South Africa – Gauteng province
May 3, 2011 3:14 am
hi bugman – can you id this caterpillar?
Signature: Wes
Death's Head Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Dear Wes,
This magnificent caterpillar is a Death’s Head Hawkmoth Caterpillar, Acherontia atropos. You may see a photo of an adult moth in our archive which will explain the common name. This species has the notoriety of figuring prominently in the poster for the award winning film Silence of the Lambs.
¶ Posted 03 May 2011 § ‡ ° spinx moth
Location: Marshalltown, IA
April 18, 2011 11:06 am
While pulling weeds (wild mustard) in the hoophouse today, up popped a chryslis of what I am guessing is a spinx moth of some sort. It is alive and very active. I am wanting to provide it with the proper conditions to allow it to ”hatch” and get a few fabulous photos before setting it free. What do you suggest for success?
Signature: Bugged
Sphinx Pupa
Dear Bugged,
Many moths pupate underground and the pupae look quite similar, but those with a “handle” to contain the proboscis are the Sphinx Pupae exactly as you indicated. As a point of correction, a chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly and the pupa of a moth is not referred to as a chrysalis. We don’t know what a hoophouse is, but if it has anything to do with a vegetable garden, we suspect this is one of the two species of Sphinx Moths in the genus Manduca that feed upon tomatoes. You can try keeping the pupa in a small goldfish bowl with several inches of damp, not dry or wet, potting soil. You can also use dirt from the garden, but that might introduce other creatures to the habitat. Cover the opening with cheesecloth to allow for ventilation. Good luck “hatching” your pupa. We are post dating this posting to go live during our holiday away from the office later in the week.
Fantastic! I stand corrected about the chrysalis thing… A hoophouse is, in our case, a tubular metal framework (think quonset hut in shape), covered with plastic sheeting and is used to extend the growing season of fruits and vegetables or to grow high value or sensitive crops during the normal growing season. We did grow tomatoes in the hoop last year. In the catepillar stage, are they very similar in appearance to the tomato hornworm or are they the same creature?
The Tomato Hornworm is the caterpillar of the Five Spotted Hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculata.
¶ Posted 22 April 2011 § ‡ ° 
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