Hello :)
I pray this is a butterfly caterpillar. A few were on our Mammoth Russian Sunflower plant and a few were on our Black eyed Susan...
I thought it would be a Painted Lady or Silvery Checkerspot cat...but the pic I have doesn't match what's in my books or what I can find online...Big Sigh...
If they are butterfly cats, I'll put them back on their host plants...but if not...they are going bye bye!
Thanks,
Susan
These larvae definitely will become butterflies in the family Nymphalidae; they appear to be checkerspots in the genus Chlosyne - see http://tinyurl.com/ma2qw9 for an example.
I think what you have is a spotted oleander caterpillar, Empyreuma affinis Rothschild, which is the larvae of a moth wasp. They do extensive damage to oleanders.
The adult stage of the oleander caterpillar is sometimes called the "polka-dot wasp moth." Wasp moth is the common name given to the subfamily of arctiid moths to which this species belongs (the ctenuchines) because of their resemblance to wasps such as the sphecids and pompilids.
http://entnem.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/Ole_Cpillar.htm
The only reason I think this is because I had the ones mentioned above on my oleanders a couple yrs ago.
Are yours on oleanders?
SusanLouise - ilovejesus99 is mistaken. Your caterpillars definitely are NOT larvae of the spotted oleander caterpillar; they are in the family Nymphalidae, not Arctiidae.
I admit I am mistaken. At my first look I saw the ones I had but now that I see them again I am so happy they are not the ones I said. The oleander caterpillar does a lot of damage and they all seem to gather up where the eaves met the side of the house and about 6 or so would spin themselves in a web like stuff like they were all under a blanket. I was happy for that as I took them out in one sweep of the broom. I have not had any since.
Thank you so much sunnto. I am always happy to admit when I am mistaken. Especially when it comes to a beautiful butterfly and not a pest. Think of the poor butterflies I could have gotten wiped out.
Tell the little guys I apologize. :o)
Again TY. I will be very careful if I see these anywhere around my home.
