According to my butterfly and moth book, this is an Io Moth Cat. Supposedly they can cause pain in humans who touch their "fuzz", but this guy didn't. So I have him in my butterfly box with some hibiscus leaf. Does anyone know if Io's like anything else special to eat? Thanks, Karen
beautiful but don't touch it lol
I was holding him in my palm and he didn't hurt me at all. Karen
I've added him to the bug files.
hmmmmmm Trish said the same thing. It can give a very painful sting according to the books. I am not trying it lol
Hey Karen,
Mine love Crape myrtles, I let them have all they want. I just had 2 hatch out in my tank, I took about 15 off of my Hibiscus mutabalis rubra and fed them in the tank. I can't touch them, they burn my skin if I do, but I think they're such a pretty cat and a cute little moth. I'll take some pics tomorrow before I releade the 2 that hatched. The saddlebacks are really about the only cats I kill, I am highly allergic and they always seem to find me..lol but the pain is very intense.
Some of my Balck Swallowtails have formed chrysalis in my tank and one outside on my Curcuma domestica.
The spiky things along the back hide some stiff spines called scoli. Unlike a wasp, these are not stingers that are under the caterpillars control but are instead like the spines of a grassbur. You have to impale yourself. There are poison glands attached to the scoli though and if you rub across the tip and get a sting from a large caterpillar it can feel about as bad as a yellowjacket sting, at least to me. The bigger the caterpillar gets, the more zing it has. If they are just crawling on you the scoli can't reach your skin, but it really doesn't take much of a touch to get stung so don't drop one on your foot!
I've never touched the smaller ones - were they the ones that felt like a burn?
-FM
Well I had this guy sitting in my hand after using two fingers to pick him off a wall and got no sting. I was very gentle of course, but no problem. He is almost 2 inches long now. I put him in my butterfly house and put some hibiscus (native) and live oak in with him. I am worried cause he isn't eating. Seems to just be sleeping. Karen
Looks like I just revealed how ham-handed I am. There are several reasons a caterpillar wouldn't eat. One is that it is not on the right host plant, but if it was just hungry it should be crawling about. Another is that it is about to molt and you will know that soon. The most common reason is that it is either parasitized or has a pathogen. There are parasitic flies that commonly attack species in the Io moth family and at least one virus. That will reveal itself in short order also. Finally, there could be a physiological problem. There is another thread here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/628702/ where that may have happened to a swallowtail caterpillar. Life as a larva is a tough one.
-FM
they eat hibiscus, that's what I pulled my bunch from, he may be ready to pupate, do you have some leaf litter in the bottom of your container? He'll be fine, I have found about 100 or more on Crape Myrtles. Those IO moths love to eat, almost anything, at least they do here. I was going to take a picture of the 2 that hatched out but, they had better ideas... Will try again as others come out from their slumber..lol
Liz
Liz, I put some of the hibiscus you planted in there but it doesn't seem to be eating it. However, he does seem to be eating a little of the live oak. Doesn't seem real hungry but is kind of big and is still a lot, so maybe he is getting ready to pupate. Karen
It sounds like it. I went to take pictures of one of the IOs that hatched out and he got lose in the house, a feisty little bugger. I'll try again with another...lol Richard said 'he' was just camera shy... :)
Liz
Sorry have no extra 'cat' food for sale. Mine have eaten everything. I am even growing a 'weed' in my garden ithat's in the carrot family for them. Richard has found several on the 'weed'.
Can't wait to see you again, I still have Bob's seasoned vinegar waiting for him...lol
Here's a picture of some of my Black Swallowtails in my tank.
PS i have the tiniest monarch cats on my milkweed right now.
My friend raised a couple Io's, he fed them live oak leaves.Thats also the tree that he found them on, or I should say they found him...(ouch!)
Well this guy doesn't like oak. He loves crepe myrtle though, so hopefully he will be OK. Karen
I have a parsley plant that the black swallowtails love. There will be 10 or more on the stems. I'm very uninformed about these creatures and didn't know what to do with them. I moved them to another plant so I could use the parsley. What do they turn into? Sorry to show my ignorance.
The black swallowtails only like parsley, fennel or dill, so if you move them they will probably die. I just "raised" 30 black swallowtail cats and had to buy more parsley. Then, yesterday, a momma BS laid 2 eggs on the new parsley, so here come more babies. But I love them!! Karen
FYI, the Io Moth cat FINALLY became a pupa. Very interesting. It didn't climb to the roof of the butterfly house. What it did was surround itself with crepe myrtle flowers on the ground of the house. It is totally enclosed by flowers. Karen
Hooray!
Thanks for the update!
What kind of moth will that be?
An Io Moth.
Guess who "hatched"?
After about 10 days...I was beginning to think it was dead. Isn't it gorgeous!! Karen
wonderful shot Karen. The long-tailed and silver-spotted skipper butterflies pupate that way to
Thanks Donna, she's on her way in the world now. K
This was an interesting thread, Karen. And a beautiful moth at the end!
gram
Thanks Gram. She was a gentle soul, never even hurt me when I held her as a cat. Karen
I was trimming my Hibiscus one year and got a bad sting from one of these. Very painful.
