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Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillars from Hawaii

Help to identify this moth larva please
Location: Maui Hawaii
April 12, 2011 9:37 pm
Aloha, in late March I found that three of these larva had consumed a large gardenia plant in one night. I believe that it is a Sphinx larva, but unsure which. Thanks
Signature: Jim

Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Hi Jim,
This is an Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar, an species introduced to Hawaii from the Mediterranean region. The range of this species has increased with the cultivation of oleander in other regions. Gardenia is a minor food plant. The best place to try to identify Sphinx Moths from Hawaii and elsewhere is the Sphingidae of the Americas website.

Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

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¶ Posted 12 April 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Unidentified Sphinx Caterpillar from Peru

green hornworm in Lima, Peru, South America
Location: south america, Peru
April 8, 2011 12:03 pm
Well, my friend posteed this picture in facebook and said that this is a waxd moth caterpillar, but I think that this is impossible because waxed moth is onkly found in Norht America while this thing is in the south. I think that this is either an archemon sphinix or a satellite sphinix. could you tell me its real name? thanks.
Signature: shi chen

Unknown Hornworm

Dear shi chen,
We have not had any luck identifying this Hornworm, however, your best resource will probably be the Sphingidae of the Americas Peru webpage. We do not believe it is either the Achemon Sphinx nor the Satellite Sphinx. Can you provide the name of the food plant?

Update
April 15, 2011
An update: my friend told me that he had found three of these kinds of hornworm. Unluckly, 2 of them was gone after he returned few days later and so he only have that worm picture. He did mentioned that the other 2 have white stripes opn them. Also these worms are resting on :an olive tree, a cherimoya tree, and an unkonw green shrub (probably another fruit tree). He also mentioned that the the picture of the wormhorm that I had sent you has faded white stripes. This can be told when the contrast of the picture is risen, which that’s how he did it. This probably means that this some of pillar’s white stripes had faded away after growing to certain size. This is my upadated information. Hope you have luck in identifying the caterpillar. Thanks.
Shi Chen

add Unidentified Sphinx Caterpillar from Peru

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¶ Posted 10 April 2011 § ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: Unidentified

Tersa Sphinx Pupa

Larva? Chrysalis?
Location: Pensacola, FL (FL Panhandle)
March 22, 2011 10:19 pm
Hi! I’ve used this website numerous times to help identify strange insects discovered here in the Florida Panhandle. I came across this one (pictured) while pulling weeds along the side of the house. It was about 11 am, and I don’t know if it was underground and I uncovered it while pulling weeds, or if it was above ground and I just happened to notice it. This was discovered on March 20th, and I am located in Pensacola, FL. The ground it was discovered in is almost continuously shaded and moist. The part resembling a point or ”stinger” moved back and forth seemingly as in a self-defense posture. At first I thought it was a cacoon or chrysallis of some sorth, but the segmented portion caused me to rethink that. Total length is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches. Thanks for your help!
Signature: Bart Macmanus

Tersa Sphinx Pupa

Hi Bart,
We cannot ever recall responding to you in the past, so the numerous times you have used our website in the past must have been unassisted usages, meaning you were able to self identify. This is the Pupa of a Tersa Sphinx Moth. You can see images of the entire life cycle of the Tersa Sphinx on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. We suspect this Tersa Sphinx Pupa was buried just beneath the surface and you unearthed it while weeding. The adult moths are quite aerodynamic. The segmented abdomen is the only part of most butterfly and moth pupae that is capable of moving.

You are correct! I have used this website numerous times for self-identification of certain insects, but this is my first submission. In fact, about 30 minutes after I submitted my query, I was STILL searching and finally came across one just like this and knew right away what it was. The link you posted on that submission led me to a few pictures of the Sphinx Moth, which I gladly showed my wife. It is now sitting in the kitchen in a container awaiting the emergence of the grown adult. I appreciate all the work that goes into your website, and especially the quick turnaround on my question. Incidently, the last time I used your website, it was to identify one of the various Eyed Elater species. Thanks again!

Thanks for the update Bart. If you are going to try to witness the metamorphosis, make sure the pupa can breath. A large mouth bottle with some damp (not too wet but also not bone dry) potting soil in the bottom and a cheese cloth or netting cover should work fine. Keep the pupa at approximately the same temperature as the air outside to ensure there is not a premature metamorphosis.

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¶ Posted 23 March 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Bedstraw Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Strange Caterpillar from the woodpile
Location: Northeastern Pensylvania
February 25, 2011 10:26 am
Hi! Firstly, I LOVE wtb, I just found it a few days ago, and I’m practically obsessed with learning about the different kinds of bugs. I’ve always been a bug lover, and this past fall when I was helping my dad stack wood in the woodshed, when I found two awesome bugs in the course of one day. The first is a beetle looking thing, I thought he was just awesome, So I took him inside and snapped some pictures before I let it back on the woodpile. I’ve lived here my whole life and never seen anything like this! It did pinch ahold of my dad when he was poking it (silly man) and apparently it hurt pretty bad. But he just pulled it off and put it back on the wood, laughing at how dumb of an idea it was to poke it. The second little guy came crawling off one of the logs. It made me a little nervous, as I was ”stung” by a big green spiky caterpillar when I was younger, but all in all he was only concerned with munching on the leaf I put in the bowl for him. He was really cool, and I took him inside the house to photograph him, then let him go back were he was on the woodpile. I never saw what he hatched into though. Any idea what this guy is, and what he may have turned into?
Signature: Liz

Bedstraw Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Dear Liz,
Thank you for your highly entertaining and very sweet email. Your caterpillar is a Bedstraw Hawkmoth Caterpillar or Gallium Sphinx, Hyles gallii, which we confirmed on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. There you may read a lengthy account of the caterpillar and adult moth including details of its life cycle.

Thanks! Mystery solved!
Liz

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¶ Posted 26 February 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

ID of caterpillar
Location: Hawi, North Kohala, Hawaii Island
February 11, 2011 3:10 am
Can you help ID this caterpillar
Signature: Hawi

Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Dear Hawi,
This is an Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar, a species introduced to Hawaii that has naturalized because of the cultivation of its food plant, the oleander.

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¶ Posted 11 February 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Achemon Sphinx Caterpillar

Name that bug
Location: Northern California
January 26, 2011 4:42 pm
I found this little guy crawling in my backyard September 2009. Took some pictures of him and put him in the garden. What is it?
Signature: -Kimber

Achemon Sphinx Caterpillar

Dear Kimber,
Though the caterpillar is highly variable in coloration and markings, we are quite certain that this is the caterpillar of the Achemon Sphinx, Eumorpha achemon. You may compare you photo to images posted to Bugguide.

Thank you
Kimber Thompson & son

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¶ Posted 29 January 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Spiny Hornworm Caterpillar from South Africa: Lophostethus dumolinii

Green caterpillar south africa
Location: Mpumalanga, South Africa
January 29, 2011 7:14 am
We found this green caterpillar on our tree outside. It is approx. 100mm long x 25mm thick. ictures are with a large bic lighter to illustrate size. We would really like to know what kind of caterpillar it is.
Signature: Green caterpillar

Spined Hornworm from South Africa

Dear Green caterpillar,
We have not had any luck identifying your caterpillar on the World’s Largest Saturniidae Site. Though we are confident that this is a Silkmoth Caterpillar in the family Saturniidae, the species identification is proving elusive

Sphingidae Caterpillar: Lophostethus dumolinii

We hope that our email to Bill Oehlke will provide an identification. Can you provide the name of the tree upon which this caterpillar was discovered?

Spiny HornwormCaterpillar from South Africa

Bill Oehlke provides a surprising revelation
Daniel,
I think it is not one of the Saturniidae. I remember being very surprised one time to learn that some of the South African Sphingidae have spines. I am pretty sure it is one of the Sphingidae, but I cannot remember which one.
Bill Oehlke

Ed. Note: We will begin searching this new possibility.

Bill Oehlke finds the ID
Hi Daniel,
The larva is one of the Sphingidae. It is Lophostethus dumolinii. Can you get me a larger image of the larva and the photographer’s email
Bill Oehlke

Thanks so much Bill. We can provide you with the contact information of the person who submitted the images. They may have higher resolution files, but we do not.

Ed. Note: We have not had any luck finding images of the caterpillar online, but Biodiversity Explorer identifies Lophostethus umolinii as the Arrow Sphinx Hawkmoth and has an image of the adult moth.

Arrow Sphinx

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for all the trouble you have gone to to find the species of the caterpillar I really appreciate it. Attached are larger images of the caterpillar as found in the tree. I am not too sure what the tree is but will try to look it up in the indigenous south African directory as it is an indigenous plant. I had to move it to another tree as it was near our animals which would disturb it – I have just checked and it has made a home in the new tree and looks like it is getting ready to cocoon (if that is what you call it). Hopefully I can follow its progress and we can see the end result.
Thanks
Jeni

Arrow Sphinx

Hi again Jeni,
Thanks so much for sending the higher resolution images of the Arrow Sphinx. By clicking on the images to enlarge them, our readership can compare the difference in quality. The caudal horn is much more apparent in these higher resolution images.

Arrow Sphinx

add Spiny Hornworm Caterpillar from South Africa: Lophostethus dumolinii

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¶ Posted 29 January 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: Unidentified

Hornworm from Hawaii: Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Caterpillar
Location: Honolulu Hawaii
January 21, 2011 7:04 pm
What’s the name of this caterpillar or the butterfly/moth that it will turn into? Never seen one like it in Hawaii. It was about 3inches long and cruising down a hiking road.
Signature: Dan

Unknown Hornworm from Hawaii

Hi Dan,
We actually thought this was going to be an easy identification because this caterpillar is so distinctive and because we know that it it a Hornworm in the family Sphingidae. The Sphingidae of the Americas website allows us to search by state, and we know Hawaii does not have many species, but alas, several of species and subspecies listed in Hawaii are without photos. Bill Oehlke who authors the website notes: “Manduca blackburni, Tinostoma smaragditis, Hyles calida calida, Hyles calida hawaiiensis, Hyles wilsoni perkinsi and Hyles wilsoni wilsoni are endemic species/subspecies (found only on Hawaii).” Your caterpillar reminds us of members of the the genus Hyles of which there are several species and subspecies in Hawaii, though we would not dismiss the possibility that it might be an unusual color variation of the caterpillar of the Pink Spotted Hawkmoth, Agrius cingulata, which is also found on Hawaii. You can note the similarities to the caterpillar of Hyles lineata on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. The more we ponder this, we are leaning toward this being an unusual color variation of the caterpillar of the Pink Spotted Hawkmoth, Agrius cingulata, because of the markings on the head. The examples of the Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar on the Sphingidae of the Americas website have decidedly different colors and markings than your individual, but that is still our best guess. We are going to enlist the assistance of Bill Oehlke on this query by copying him on our reply. We suspect he may request permission to post your photo to his website as well.