Subject: A Mystery Caterpillar
Location: Circle B Bar Reserve, FL
October 8, 2015 4:30 pm
Hello, and thank you for ID-ing that ground spider!
So today I have a caterpillar found in 10/20/13.
Signature: Cicada lover
Possibly Owlet Caterpillar
Dear Cicada Lover,
This request has been on our back burner because we did some research but we were not successful in determining an identification. This caterpillar really reminds us of a Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar from the genus Cucullia, but we could not find any matching images on BugGuide. We still believe it is a member of the Owlet Moth family Noctuidae. Perhaps one of our readers will have more luck with an identification.
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Location: Circle B Bar Reserve, Florida
Hello, and thank you for trying to ID the caterpillar.
So today I have been doing some more research on it and posted it on BugGuide and I have been talking to a person who is helping me further ID it as an Armyworm.
We (mostly him) have not been able to determine what species of armyworm it is, but I just wanted to let you know where I have been getting with this “Intriguing Mystery Insect”.
And the Armyworm is a Cutworm in the Owlet Moth family Noctuidae as we suspected. Please provide us with any updates if they arrive.
My guesses would be Spodoptera ornithogalli, S. latifascia, S. dolichos, or S. albula.
Although like you said, I can’t find any supporting images on BugGuide either.
Also I should add I found this image which is nearly identical to my photo, claimed to be S. latifascia.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/535523
I just found one feeding on a tomato plant, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We’ve seen many green hornworms before, but this is the first of this kind. According to http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org, it is a Velvet Armyworm Moth (Spodoptera latifascia).
I have one as well, identical to yours. Found on my small citrus tree this morning.