Hello,
My friend here has been feeding on the silver buttonwoods for a few days. If he has siblings I haven't spotted any. He's smooth, soft brown with a greenish underside, and has very thin white stripes along the sides. I know the picture is so-so, it was taken with my cel phone camera, so it's not going to get much better.
Thanks for your help.
Dalia
Tantalus Sphinx Moth maybe??
I don't think so - I googled the Tantalus and the larvae pictures are somewhat different from my guy (girl?). Unfortunately this was the best of the pix I took.
Thanks for giving it a try!
Dalia
Wildlife and Ecology:
"This is one of the most important host trees for epiphytes in South Florida. Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Occasional larval host plant for martial hairstreak (Strymon martialis) butterflies and tantalus sphinx (Aellopus tantalus) moths. Nectar plant for amethyst hairstreak (Chlorostrymon maesites) and other butterflies. The seeds are dispersed by water."
The Tanalus moth is the only one I can find anywhere that says uses the Buttonwood as host. It is not Hairstreak larva
oh if you can get a really good pic please. Yours maybe the only one if it is the A. tanalus. There are no larvae pictures to be found on the internet or at least I can't find any. Can find of other Aellopus sp though
This could be a larva of the ello sphinx, Erinnyis ello - see http://tinyurl.com/onc6bn for some images. These caterpillars show considerable individual variation in appearance.
Wow, I saw these pictures just now and they're so amazing. I think you may be spot on Suunto, because I saw a similar moth on the buttonwoods this morning - she was there for quite a while inspite of the incessant rains today. Could she have been laying eggs the poor thing? Darn, now I'm worried and I want to go out there and hover.
Dalia
Caterpillar not only survived the night but he's bigger and fatter. Here's a pic taken just a few minutes ago.
Caterpillar was hard to find; he's almost all green and seems to be suspended underneath the leaf in a sort of arched position. I had to tie a little red twist tie around the branch to help me locate him tomorrow morning.
Ana has veered a bit to the south so it doesn't look like it's going to hit South Florida. Caterpillar is safe for now!
Caterpillar continues to thrive. Here's the latest pic.
Dalia
Dalia:
try this link, it was the closest I could find to what I could make out in your pictures.
http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Ceratomia_undulosa
hope this helps get you a little closer to figuring this one out.
Thanks, I appreciate it, though caterpillar seems to have disappeared, I haven't spotted him in a few days.
