Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar from Hawaii

what is this?
Location: Honolulu Manoa Valley
July 3, 2011 3:20 pm
Found this caterpillar in my yard in Manoa Valley in Honolulu, Hawaii in some ginger and monstera and next to a crown flowers tree.
Signature: Beth

Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Hi Beth,
The Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar,
Agrius cingulata, is also found throughout much of North, Central and South America and it was most likely introduced to Hawaii.  The caterpillar is highly variable, and the Sphingidae of the Americas website does not depict this particular variation on the standard species page, however is you scroll down the Sphingidae of the Americas Hawaii page, you will see an example of this color variation.

Thanks for the quick identification! Am checking the sites you mention and googling others to see what else I can learn about this caterpillar. I see it is also referred to as the sweet potato hawkmoth. Do they feed on sweet potato? I am growing a lot of sweet potatoes in my garden. But I found this one over by my ginger. Also near my crown flower tree. I know the monarchs like the crown flower.
Do you know what this species eats? Or anything more about their life cycle.
Aloha,
Beth

Hi again Beth,
According to BugGuide:  “Larvae feed on Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), jimsonweed (Datura spp.), pawpaw (Asimina spp.), and other plants in the Potato (Solanaceae) and Morning-glory (Convolvulaceae) families.  Adults take nectar from deep-throated flowers such as morning-glory (Convolvulus spp).”

13 thoughts on “Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Caterpillar from Hawaii”

  1. RE: Honolulu, HI hawk moth caterpillars. I have many of the same on my Morning Glories in Kaimuki near Kapahulu 1.jpeg/Users/MariaMcClellan/Desktop/securedownload.jpeg
    /Users/MariaMcClellan/Desktop/securedownload.jpeg

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  2. RE: Honolulu, HI hawk moth caterpillars. I have many of the same on my Morning Glories in Kaimuki near Kapahulu 1.jpeg/Users/MariaMcClellan/Desktop/securedownload.jpeg
    /Users/MariaMcClellan/Desktop/securedownload.jpeg

    Reply
  3. just found the same caterpillar in my sweet potato bucket! Looked it up and found your image- same markings as the one you posted- green with brown markings like twigs down the sides! What did you do with yours? We don’t know whether it will form a chrysalis or if it is poisonous!

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    • According to Sphingidae of the Americas: “Larvae feed on plants in the Convolvulaceae family, especially Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato) and in the Solanaceae family, especially (Datura) (jimsonweed) and related plants in the Americas.” According to BugGuide: “Larvae feed on Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), jimsonweed (Datura spp.), pawpaw (Asimina spp.), and other plants in the Potato (Solanaceae) and Morning-glory (Convolvulaceae) families.” If you found the caterpillar on a palm, it was either a different species or it was not feeding.

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  4. Hi everyone we found one in our sweet potatoes patch. They are creepy looking and was worried about it attacking us in the middle of the night while we sleep, but after reading a few comments we will out it back in the yard to pupate.

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  5. We found this same looking caterpillar under our doorstep after the heavy rains…my daughter google imaged it and that’s how we found out what it was. We found it on 1/15 and I took it to school for my 3rd graders to witness the cycles and to learn about it. As of today 1/21 he is now in his cocoon and hopefully in 10 days we can witness it transforming !! My class is so excited as they have never seen anything like it, nor have I! What a great learning opportunity we have been blessed with to witness !!

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  6. Found on Big Island 8 miles outside of Pahoa in Puna District.
    We love our sweet potatoes and choose to feed it to the chickens.

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  7. I found a few of these horn worms on my morning glory plants a couple of weeks ago. It took a while to find an identification of them where I live as I believe they are more typically found in southern US. I live in New Hampshire and we were having pretty cold nights already. I re-homed a couple of them indoors right before they were entering their pupa phase. They’ve done really well and just formed their pupa where they will stay over winter. Looking forward to seeing them transform in the spring!

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