Erinnyis ello dark form ?
Location: Naples, FL
November 22, 2010 11:54 pm
I knew something was eating the leaves on the papaya but I could not see anything during the day. I found this specimen munching on my papaya at 10 PM on 11/22/10. Temperature was 70 F. I think it is a Erinnyis ello dark form but could it be a Erinnyis alope dark form?
Thank you.
Signature: Robert
Probably Alope Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Robert,
Your Sphinx does look very much like the dark Ello Sphinx Caterpillar on the Sphingidae of the Americas website as well as resembling an image posted to BugGuide. It feeding on papaya is further evidence that the identification is correct. According to the Sphingidae of the Americas website, the caterpillar of Erynnyis alope looks quite similar and also feeds on Papaya, but it is not as common in Florida. We will check with Bill Oehlke to see if he can provide a conclusive identification.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for you reply. I have a large “Orange Jasmine” bush that flowers often and profusely. This brings in lots of flying insects and the flying insects attract tropical orb spiders.
I have attached some photos. You may use any of the photos I have sent to you, my compliments. If there are numbers in the file name they are the year, month, day.
I live on eight acres, about 8 miles east of Naples, FL.
Regards,
Robert Lenahan
Hi Robert,
We just heard back from Bill Oehlke and he believes your caterpillar is probably Erinnyis alope. We will probably be posting your image of the unidentified Sphinx Moth as soon as we identify it.
Bill Oehlke Responds
Daniel,
Most likely alope if found on papaya.
Although I also list papaya as a host for ello, Tuttle indicates ello is most often found on poinsettia while alope is most often found on papaya.
Bill Oehlke
¶ Posted 23 November 2010 § ‡ ° Interesting Caterpillar
Location: Central Texas
November 21, 2010 6:16 pm
I took a picture of this today (11/21/2010) in Central Texas. Is it a Mournful Sphinx Caterpillar?
Thanks
Signature: Matt
Rustic Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Matt,
You have the correct family, but the wrong species. We believe this is a Rustic Sphinx Caterpillar, Manduca rustica, based on images posted to the Sphingidae of the Americas website which indicates it feeds on lantana, the plant upon which you photographed your individual.
¶ Posted 21 November 2010 § ‡ ° Hornworm 11/10
Location: Central Florida/Viera
November 11, 2010 1:36 pm
My daughter would like an ID so she can care for it properly. Seems similar to a Tomato Hornworm? Please help, thanks!
Signature: nativFL
Mournful Sphinx Caterpillar
Dear nativFL,
We did some research and we have arrived at the conclusion that your caterpillar is a Mournful Sphinx Caterpillar, Enyo lugubris. You may visit The Sphingidae of the Americas website to compare the photos there.
¶ Posted 11 November 2010 § ‡ ° Location: Auburn, CA
November 7, 2010 2:20 pm
We found this guy on our Serrano pepper plant a couple months ago, then he disappeared (thought he might have been a spicy treat for a bird), but yesterday we found him and a friend on our adjacent Jalapeno and Anaheim plants. They are 5-6” long. Interested to see what they become. Love your site. Thank you.
Signature: Auburn Jeff
Tobacco Hornworm
Hi Jeff,
Your caterpillar is a Tobacco Hornworm, Manduca sexta, also known as the Carolina Sphinx. These caterpillars are most frequently found feeding on the leaves of tomato plants, but they will also feed on related plants in the nightshade family including pepper. The individual you found several months ago may have gone underground and metamorphosed and we feel the current caterpillars are different individuals.
¶ Posted 08 November 2010 § ‡ ° What did I dig up?
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
November 6, 2010 12:09 am
When planting some bulbs a couple of weeks ago, I dug up this pupa. It was in a weedy area with a couple of milkweed plants, among a lot of catnip and other minor weeds. It was also nearby some lilacs. It weighs 5g and I think it is still alive. The only caterpillars I’ve seen in the area have been monarchs.
Signature: Jason
Sphinx Pupa
Dear Jason,
This is the Pupa of one of the Hawkmoths in the family Sphingidae. The Caterpillars are often called Hornworms because of the caudal horn, or Sphinxes because they assume a pose reminiscent of the Egyptian Sphinx. We normally don’t try to identify Pupae found underground to the species level as that is really beyond our means, but since this was a garden, and perhaps there may have been tomato plants growing nearby, this may be the Pupa of a Five Spotted Hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculata, which may be seen on the Sphingidae of the Americas website, or the Carolina Sphinx, Manduca sexta, which may be viewed on BugGuide. Both species have caterpillars that feed on the leaves of tomato plants, both pupate underground, and both have sheaths for their long proboscis which causes the pupa to resemble a jug with a handle.
¶ Posted 06 November 2010 § ‡ ° rustic sphinx moth question
Location: Galveston County, Texas
November 5, 2010 9:14 am
Found one in our back yard, identified it via your website. We live in a newly-constructed suburban development and there is almost nothing for it to eat here. If we were going to raise it to moth-hood, what should we provide in the way of food?
Signature: steeleam
Rustic Hornworm
Dear steeleam,
Pointy finger is a nice use of scale. We are of the opinion that if a caterpillar is feeding upon a plant, that plant must be a single diet, a preferred food, an unknown opportunity or a wildlife corridor away from a food source. Hopefully it is #2 because that allows for a divergent population of Rustic Hornworms that is most likely to survive to adulthood. Is there some reason you doubt that the plant upon which you discovered this Rustic Sphinx is not an appropriate food? That would be our first guess, but we cannot determine the plant species, though it looks vaguely like a Fuschia. You can research preferred food plant on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. We are beginning to have our dissatisfaction with the common names for the members of the family Sphingidae. Sphinx and Hornworm should only be used for the caterpillar because of its preferred pose and its anatomical features. Hawkmoth should be reserved for the nocturnal species and Hummingbird Moth for the diurnal.
thanks for writing me back. I didn’t explain myself clearly. I found that caterpillar in one of my potted plants, a lantana. The plant was almost totally consumed by that point, not much more food left available for the critter. So I was wondering what else I could feed it. Because we live in a newly-built neighborhood, not much else has been planted yet here. It wasn’t as simple as transfering him to another plant, because there are none.
I kept it in a large container and provided fresh lantana leaves for about a day, but it did not eat and appeared to be under stress, alternately going into some kind of rigor mortis and then waking back up again. So I placed it on the soil below the lantana. It promptly burrowed into the ground, so perhaps it was time to coccoon.
The behavior you describe is consistent with metamorphosis. Sphinx Caterpillars do not cocoon. A cocoon is spun from silk and the Sphinx Caterpillar will simply molt into a bare pupa.
¶ Posted 05 November 2010 § ‡ ° Scary 5inch long caterpillar!!
Location: Crete Greece
October 26, 2010 11:30 am
Dear Bugman,
Again I need your expert help to identify this very large caterpillar which arrived on my patio under the Bouganvillia after strong winds in the night. At first I thought it was a snake! Hawk moth again maybe? Five inches long, a horn at the rear and cream colour underneath. I live on the island of Crete. Thanks for all you do to enlighten us amateur nature lovers!
Signature: Cathy P
Death's-Head Hawkmoth Hornworm
Hi Cathy,
You are correct. This is a Hornworm as the caterpillars of the Hawkmoths are frequently called. Alas, we do not know the species and a cursory search of the internet did not turn up any matches. Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck identifying the species.
Hi Daniel and Cathy:
It looks like a brown color variant of the Death’s-head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, which is widespread throughout Europe and Africa. As with many hawkmoth (Sphingidae) caterpillars, it comes in a large variety of body colors and patterns. Wikipedia provides lots of interesting information about the species. Regards. Karl
¶ Posted 27 October 2010 § ‡ ° Caterpillar
Location: Akrotiri, Crete, Greece
October 24, 2010 12:06 pm
I spotted this caterpiller on October 20th near Souda harbor on the Greek island of Crete. Can you help me identify?
Signature: Kritione
Barbary Spurge Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Dear Kritione,
We had to do a bit of creative information extrapolation in order to arrive at our assumption that this is a subspecies of the Barbary Spurge Hawkmoth, Hyles tithymali cretica. We were confident that we had the genus correct, so we did a websearch of possibilities from Crete and we found the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic page for Hyles tithymali cretica, but alas, there was no image of the caterpillar. We did find images of the caterpillar of another subspecies of the Barbary Spurge Hawkmoth, Hyles tithymali tithymali, a subspecies from the Canary Islands, also on the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic website, and they look like your individual. We learned on Wikipedia that: “It is thought that Hyles tithymali had a much larger range in Europe, but has been pushed further south after the cooling ca. 3600 years ago. Its place has been taken over by Hyles euphorbiae, which is more resistant to the cold. Because of this, many isolated populations exist today, many of which have developed to distinct subspecies.“ To further complicate matters, the caterpillar of the Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth, Hyles euphorbiae, which may be viewed on the Sphingidae of the Americas website, looks nearly identical. That Eurasian species has been introduced into North America to help control the spread of the invasive exotic plant, Leafy Spurge, and the Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth is now established in North America, but it prefers a cooler climate. The Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth, which is also pictured on the Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic Website, has several subspecies as well.
Daniel,
Thank you for the speedy reply! I appreciate your assistance.
All the best,
Paul
¶ Posted 24 October 2010 § ‡ ° 
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