stinging slug caterpillar
Location: Potholes, South Africa
December 6, 2011 5:24 am
Hello,
I am form the Netherlands and i was in 2005 in South Africa for an internship. I was at blyde river canyon (potholes)when i saw this specie. I am searching for 6 years now to find out which specie this is. I hope you can help me out?
Greetings,
Hennie
Stinging Slug Caterpillar
Dear Hennie,
We agree that this is most likely a Stinging Slug Caterpillar, however, some members of the Saturniidae family also have stinging spines. We will post your photo and we hope our readership might be able to assist in the identification.
Karl provides a possible genus identification
December 6, 2011
Hi Daniel and Hennie:
Excluding the more common and serious pest species, tropical limacodids are always difficult to identify because of the large number of species and a general lack of online information. South Africa, for instance, has at least 117 species for most of which there is very little information to be found. However, I believe this one belongs to the genus Latoia, which includes at least a dozen South African species. Latoia vivida appears to be a very close match and I believe this is probably the correct species, but I cannot be certain. Here is a link to another photo. Coffee is apparently the preferred larval host plant and the species is considered a serious pest on that crop in central and southern Africa. By the way, I think this may be the same species that was posted on WTB by Adrian back in January, 2008. Regards. Karl
Caterpillar found in Africa
Subject: Caterpillar found in Africa
Location: Kenya, Africa
November 29, 2011 9:24 pm
I am wondering what kind of butterfly this would turn into, and what the species of caterpillar is.
Signature: Lauren
Beautiful Caterpillar from Kenya
Hi Lauren,
This is just about the most beautiful Caterpillar we have ever seen. We don’t know what it is but the head reminds us of a Skipper Caterpillar. Most Skipper Caterpillars we have seen have green bodies, though coloration has very little to do with genera classification. We actually prefer not to research this at the moment because we want to spend some time imagining what the butterfly (and we really believe this is a butterfly) would look like upon metamorphosis.
1
Namibian Arthropods
November 17, 2011
Dear Daniel, Many thanks for your 3 messages and all the details they contain. I’m not e-maiing from Namibia but from the U.K. but the delay in responding is because we don’t have the computer on daily. I’ve attached to this message 2 more photos not for identification as I believe they are of a Death’s Head Hawkmoth Caterpiller but I hoped you might like to see them or use them.
I wonder however if I may submit 2 further pictures for identification, again both taken in Namibia.
Kind regards, Roger.
Deathshead Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Hi Roger,
There are several species called Deathshead Hawkmoths from the genus Atropos, and this is surely one of them, but we haven’t the time to research the species found in Namibia at the moment. If you send additional photos, please use our standard form and please attach only a single species per submission.
Deathshead Hawkmoth Caterpillar
1
Food and Environment for Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar?
November 13, 2011 1:25 pm
Hi!
My husband found one of these crawling the grass at our neighborhood playground in Dallas, TX. We’d love to try and see it through to becoming a moth. What should we provide it for it as far as food, habitat etc? Interestingly enough, a few weeks ago we were given a butterfly habitat(large mesh cylinder with a lid).
Thanks!
Signature: Rachel
Polyphemus Caterpillar from our archives
Dear Rachel,
Your butterfly habitat should do fine. You can also use an old aquarium with a screen top. Chances are quite good that when the Polyphemus Caterpillar left the trees it was feeding upon, “birch, grape, hickory, maple, oak, willow, and members of the rose family” according to BugGuide. The caterpillar will spin a loose cocoon around a large leaf, so provide some old, but not dried leaves on the floor of the habitat for the Polyphemus Caterpillar to spin its cocoon. Here is a nice post from our archives showing stages of Polyphemus metamorphosis.
1
Caterpillar in Malibu, CA
Location: Malibu, CA
November 13, 2011 6:24 pm
Dear Bugman, I found this large caterpillar crawling in my garden. It was not on a plant but I put some clover in a box with it. I’m trying to find out what kind of butterfly or moth it’ll turn in to. Can you identify it?
Thanks!
Signature: Bu Girl
Achemon Sphinx Caterpillar
Dear Bu Girl,
Though your photo does not show the markings on the side of this individual very well, we believe you have photographed the caterpillar of the Achemon Sphinx. Sphinx Moth caterpillars are called Hornworms because they usually have a caudal horn, however, the Achemon Sphinx sheds its caudal horn as a young caterpillar, leaving a caudal spot or “eye” that is barely visible on the right side of your photo. According to the Sphingidae of the Americas website, the caterpillar of the Achemon Sphinx feeds upon: “Grape (Vitis), Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and other vines and ivies (Ampelopsis).”
1
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