CLOSED: Is this a hummingbird moth caterpillar?

Cordeledawg Cordele, GA(Zone 8a) Oct 22, 2007

This green guy was found at the edge of my pond crawling on the ground. I bought him in and placed him in a container. The next picture shows him after he pupated.

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Cordeledawg Cordele, GA(Zone 8a) Oct 22, 2007

Here he is a couple of days later after he quit wiggling when I moved the leaves he crawled under.

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Cordeledawg Cordele, GA(Zone 8a) Oct 22, 2007

Found about four similar cats on my Penta plant but they are brown instead of green. Are they the same kind of caterpillar as the green one?

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Cordeledawg Cordele, GA(Zone 8a) Oct 22, 2007

My camera messed up every time I tried to get shots of the other three. They all are brown and about the same size.

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fly_girl The Woodlands, TX(Zone 8b) Oct 22, 2007

That's a Tersa Sphinx Moth cat, and they can be green or brown. You are so lucky to have 4!!!

They really do a number on the Pentas don't they? They chewed mine down to nubs and I never did find the cats but am seeing the adults. They are such a neat moth.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/419

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Cordeledawg Cordele, GA(Zone 8a) Oct 22, 2007

Thanks, fly!. I googled to see what the adult looked like and it said they normally bury themselves to pupate. Do I need to cover the cocoon up with dirt? I was thinking about putting the one in the container inside my big butterfly cage with some dirt and leaves on him. Is that an ok thing to do?
http://www.birds-n-garden.com/hummingbird_moths.html

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fly_girl The Woodlands, TX(Zone 8b) Oct 22, 2007

Since he's already pupuated you don't need to, just put a stick in there so when he emerges he can climb up to dry his wings. I would put some clean potting soil and leaves in there for the others to pupate in.

Another site said they turn brown right before they pupate, did your green one?

Aren't they a pretty moth? Like a hawk.