Subject: Caterpillar eating plumeria leaves
Location: Puerto Vallarta
May 10, 2017 6:37 am
Normally, the only caterpillars that eat plumeria leaves are tetrio and an occasional starving monarch. This young one, munching away in Puerto Vallarta this May, has everyone stumped – no one has seen one before. Any ideas?
Signature: Diana
Hornworm:Â Isognathus leachii
Dear Diana,
The forward facing, filamentous, caudal horn is quite unusual in this caterpillar, and we suspect like the Tetrio Sphinx, it is a Hornworm in the family Sphingidae. We do not recognize it either and we are going to request assistance from Bill Oehlke. It if is a Sphingiid, we suspect Bill may request permission to use the images on his very comprehensive site.
Hornworm:Â Isognathus leachii
Update: Thanks to a comment from Bostjan Dvorak, we have learned that this Hornworm is Isognathus leachii. According to Sphingidae of the Americas: “Larvae have long tails; colouration suggests they are unpalatable to birds.”
Hornworm:Â Isognathus leachii
Many thanks for the follow-up: I’ve posted in the plumeria Facebook forums. You now have Mexican Pacific coast to add to the confirmed range, and plumeria as a larvae host plant, and like tetrio, they eat a lot of leaves! I’ve also alerted Dr. Criley at the Univ of Hawaii in case it shows up in their groves. Excellent work!
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What a nice and sweet creature! Thanks for sharing.
It is a young Isognathus caterpillar; it seems to be an Isognathus leachii.
The caudal horn is thin and very mobile. They sometimes eat Plumeria, like those of Pseudosphinx.
Best wishes
Bostjan
Thanks so much Bostjan. We will search for a few appropriate links and update the posting.
What a nice and sweet creature! Thanks for sharing.
It is a young Isognathus caterpillar; it seems to be an Isognathus leachii.
The caudal horn is thin and very mobile. They sometimes eat Plumeria, like those of Pseudosphinx.
Best wishes
Bostjan
I was the one who took the picture. Thank you for clarifying. This particular caterpillar eats a lot of Plumeria leaves and will clean a seedling in a day if you don’t take them off. There are fairly common in my yard so I will provide more pictures in the future.
We would love to post additional images. You may submit them using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.