Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Sphinx moth caterpillar ID neededd, 1 by TexasPuddyPrint

TexasPuddyPrint wrote:
Okay, ya'll - I'm stumped!!! I haven't been able to ID this one. I found it on a mesquite tree at the ranch in San Isidro, (Starr County) TX today. Figured it's a sphinx moth - but which one?

This is the freakiest caterpillar I've seen. There are two rows of horns behind the head (as well as the one anal horn). The body segments consist of rows of 'thorns' that are silver colored (yes silver) on the outside and red on the inside.

What impressed me is that this caterpillar blended in so well with the green leaves and silvery thorns of the mesquite tree.

Any ideas? My first thought was that it resembled a Hickory Horned Devil - I know it's not that because it isn't the same - just similar - and we don't get those down here in the south.

~ Cat

This message was edited Oct 10, 2009 7:35 PM