Caterpillars on Four O'Clocks

I loaned out my caterpillar identification books so I have no idea what kind of caterpillar this is. There are several on my Four O'Clock plants.

Am thinking a moth as I don't know of any butterfly that uses Four O'Clocks as a larval host.

It's kind of a see-through green and about 1" long. Had a light brown head. They make a nest of the leaves and use silk to hold them together. When I peel back a leaf there is usually one tucked away in there.

I do have lots of skippers that hang around the Four O'Clocks and lots of sulphurs like to roost amongst them.

I've left the cats on the plants...but might try to go out and find them again and raise them.

Any ideas? Am not really interested in raising something that will turn out to be a common moth :o)

~ Cat

Here's a photo of the rear end :o)

Straaaaange .........I have never seen A Cat of any kind on my many four oclocks.......

how about Five-lined Sphinx Moth
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/607110/
http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/fieldguide/plantae/mirabilis.html

The weird thing is that 4' Oclocks are supposed to be poisonous to many insects just like the butterfly weed, dill, and parsley.

Love that color of bloom! I have just the plain white ones...they are fragrant though...some days when I'm out near that corner of the yard I catch their scent upon the wind.


I still have no idea what those cats are...I haven't collected any to raise. Doesn't look a sphinx moth as those are supposed to have a horn near the rear???

I didn't know Four o'clocks were poisonous...but whatever these cats are...they are really chewing them up!

~ Cat

I have pink ones, one with dark foliage and one with lime green. I don't remember where but I read that they are a host for something which is one reason I kept them.

I just Googled and I guess it was the Sphinx moths that use it. Sphinx moths have the horns tho. I've got about 10 on my moonplant now. I started to cut it down because some stupid beetle is eating little holes all in it then spied these cats.

4 o'clocks are poisonous, but I doubt anyone eats them. ;P Milkweed is poisonous to humans and cows but not to the cats. Same for 4 o'clocks. I'd go out and look at my plant for cats but it's too big.

Scalloped sack-bearer. Lacosoma chiridota. The adult: http://bugguide.net/node/view/5124
Will try to find the caterpillar...
CJ

Well, I could be wrong...Says it feeds on oaks. But the description was right on...and I can't find a single photo of the caterpillar. You may have the only photo in existence! LOL

This message was edited Jun 27, 2006 10:48 PM

Probably not - sorry.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caterpillarhunter/77262520/

But I'll be it's in the same family....

Hmmmm...I haven't brought any in to raise...but I looked at my four o'clocks yesterday and these buggers have really chewed the tops and made gobs of nests on them. I pulled one apart but didn't find a caterpillar...am thinking they move out of one and go make another.

They don't skeletonize the leaves like in that last photo link. They actually eat parts of the leaves and move onto another one.

I'll just have to make time to gather some up. I'll be ticked off if it's a mangy moth :o)

~ Cat

The descriptions I had didn't say anything about skeletonizing. One source said: "The newly hatched larva builds a zigzag net of silk threads under which it feeds. The more mature larva builds a cylindrical chamber from two leaves. This tubelike structure, open at both ends, serves as a shelter for the caterpillar. The larva may even cut its shelter from the leaf stems to make a portable sack in which it can travel safely about the food plant, a habit that earned it the name "sack-bearer". This small caterpillar is orange-brown when young; the mature caterpillar is greenish yellow and thick in the middle. Only the brownish front end is exposed while the larva is feeding in its sack."

the sphinx moths do indeed love the four o clocks, but I have never seen a hornworm cat on them....the hornworm will eat a datura or nicotiana or tomatoe plant to the ground. Almost all flowers have some part of them that are poisonous to something. The four oclock tuber is chewed as a hallucigenic ( spell) in some South American villages, where it originated.

I"ll have tons and tons of four oclock seed this fall if anyone is interested

Jackie...

I'd love to trade for some four o'clocks...I have just the white ones growing. I need more color :o) would also like to toss a bunch out by the pond back at the ranch. I'd like to plow up an acre or two surrounding it and infuse the area with all kinds of flower seeds.

Ceejay...I saw a skeletonized leaf in that last post for flickr...and thought that caterpillar couldn't be the same as these haven't skeletonized any leaves. I really must make it a point to gather up some cats and put them in a cage to see what they turn into. Maybe tomorrow if I can remember to do so before work.

~ Cat

Cat I have some of the perennial Hot Pink ones making seed now

Cat I have some of the perennial Hot Pink ones making seed now. They get shrub like and about 3' tall