The only cat in my book that looks like this one is a spicebush swallowtail but this one has too many "eyes" on it's back. I was weeding around a unicorn plant,found it in the grass so I'm not sure if it was on the plant and I knocked it off. Is it a keeper? I need to know so I can get it in a container with some grub soon.
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This message was edited Aug 28, 2007 10:24 AM
Whozit?
I guess a picture would help.*G*
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Got it! This is a Pluto Sphinx cat. Info says they host on firebush and milkberry. I have neither. I'm pretty sure I knocked it off the unicorn plant so I'll try putting some of the leaves in with it.
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He's pretty big so it might have been going to bury itself to pupate. Put it in a container with dirt (or something it could bury itself under, like paper towels) and put the leaves in with it. Then you'll know if it was still eating or purposely wandering.
I put unicorn plant leaves in w/it but it doesn't seem interested and just wanders around so I guess I need to make it a bed to bury in.
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Yep, sounds like he was on a mission when you found it. Poor thing, he's probably tired of circling around looking for a place to bury itself. LOL If you do keep it it could be quite a while before it ecloses if it overwinters now. Keep us updated tho.
a day or two after I found this one ,I found a brown one. Put them both in a big plastic tub with bedding and green leaves but unfornately they both died. I think I'll just stick to taking pictures and returning them to where I find them rather than murdering them. I feel so sad and guilty.
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Oh... :( Are you sure they are dead? I don't know why they would die but I don't know much about these. I wonder if they actually need dirt to bury in?
Don't feel too bad. We all have these moments. It does teach us tho that sometimes we should just watch. I'm leaving a lot of my cats outside this year and letting things just "happen".
Those look like Tersa Sphinx. They may not be dead but getting ready to pupate. I usually put in shredded paper towels in my cat cages for the moths to pupate in. They will silk themselves up into it and stay cleaner.
Tersas are notorious for using pentas as a larval host.
Here's a photo of the Tersa Sphinx cats for comparison.
~ Cat
Tersa Sphinx caterpillars - brown and green variations
This message was edited Sep 3, 2007 10:06 PM
Pluto Sphinx cats. You can see the difference between the Plutos and Tersa.
Plutos out here use firebush as a larval host and I just so happen to have two huge hedges of firebush lining both sides of my driveway so get several broods of Plutos each year.
~ Cat
This message was edited Sep 3, 2007 10:08 PM
This was the very first cat I ever found (our house was new) and seem to remember that I thought it was dead but that it was just pupating. I couldn't exactly remember tho... I hope BigRed just put them outside.
The green one buried it's self.I had to find it. It had turned brown,had a hole in it's underside and smelled. The brown one just stopped moving and started drying up. I put it outside in a flowerbed just in case it was trying to go into it's next stage.
I'm sticking to looking at and taking pictures of them outside. I don't want any more deaths on my hands.
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Oh, that doesn't sound good. I think you were right. It might not have had anything to do with you tho! I've only had one sphinx moth and decided too to leave them outside. They're just not as easy as butterflies.
I'm leaving them to Mother Nature's care. Don't think I want any more cat deaths on my hands.
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