Subject: Hemaris diffinus – Snowberry Clearwing Caterpillar
Location: 44.178265, -77.716784
October 8, 2013 6:06 am
It took a while to find the name of this one, as there aren’t many images that show a brown one. In the end I had to look up the honeysuckle it was feeding on to find it. I saw that you had only one other image of the caterpillar, so now you have two.
Signature: David Wheeler
Dear David,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a dark Snowberry Clearwing Caterpillar. We actually have more than one image of the Snowberry Clearwing Caterpillar, but it is great having your dark individual to add to our archives. The Sphingidae of Americas site does not picture this dark form so we are copying Bill Oehlke in the event he would like to use your image as well. BugGuide does have a matching image of an individual feeding on honeysuckle.
Hello,
Not a problem sharing this one. Now I wish I hadn’t used the iPod camera, it is a little blurry. I remembered after I sent this off that I searched for “honeysuckle.” The darker caterpillar was the one I found, I didn’t scroll far enough down the page to see the other ones.
David
We live in the southern portion of Maine, and we have found a Snowberry Clearwing caterpillar feeding on our honeysuckle. Question we have is do they destroy the plant, and how long is their feeding cycle?
A single caterpillar will eat leaves, but pose no threat to the plant. Numerous caterpillars might defoliate the plant, but the leaves should grow back with no permanent harm to the plant. The caterpillar stage lasts approximately four to six weeks. We do not offer extermination advice.
Thanks for the helpful response.