SATELLITE SPHINX MOTH
CATERPILLAR
The moment I saw the caterpillar shown below I figured I knew what it was related to:
That larva's finger-length size, thickness and side markings reminded me a lot of the
hornworms that used to populate my tomatoes back in Mississippi, despite it bearing no
"horn." Hornworms are the caterpillars of sphinx moths so on the Internet I
searched for sphinx moth caterpillars. The caterpillar in the above picture turned out to
be the larva of the Satellite Sphinx Moth, EUMORPHA SATELLITIA. You can see the moth and
more images of the caterpillar at http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/esatesat.htm.
If the moth picture at the above page looks like a hummingbird moth to you, that's OK,
since moths of this family, the Sphingidae, are variously known not only as sphinx moths
but also hawk moths and hummingbird moths.
At the above website you can see that younger caterpillars -- early "instars"
-- possess a spiny "horn" just like the hornworms on my tomatoes. The spine
doesn't appear on the last instar, however.
An odd feature of the caterpillar in the picture is its flat-looking head. Actually the
larva has a normal, rounded head, but when the larva is disturbed or resting it can
withdraw its first three or so segments into its body, like a collapsing telescope.
Satellite Sphinx Moths are distributed from the US border into South America, as well
as the Caribbean. The caterpillars are known to eat viny members of the Grape Family. At
night female moths emit a "pheromone plume" which males detect and follow to its
source. A pheromone is a chemical that triggers an innate behavioral response in another
member of the same species, in this case sexual activity.
It's interesting how when you're in a far-away, exotic area you keep meeting
"variations on themes" you first learned about in your own home area. I'd never
seen a Satellite Sphinx Moth caterpillar before last weekend, but the moment it appeared
before me I already knew a lot about it, thanks to my tomato hornworm days in Mississippi.
|