Comments for four inch orange caterpillar (Pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar)
headerphoto


Comments for
four inch orange caterpillar (Pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar)

Click here to add your own comments

Pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Virginia
As who ever anonymous is said it is a Pandorus Sphinx caterpillar and yes they come in several colors of not only orange and green but reddish and brownish. And yes the last instar or molted stage of the larva loses its tale and has an eye spot in its place. Sphinx larva in general are called the horntail larva since they have a tail.

This is a beautiful and spectacular larva...just found my first Pandorus larva last week also. They do eat grape leaves, porcelain vine (Ampelopsis sp) as well as Virginia creeper.
When you see these large larva moving like that at this time of year, they are on their way to find a place to pupate. They overwinter as pupa.
Pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Virginia
As who ever anonymous is said it is a Pandorus Sphinx caterpillar and yes they come in several colors of not only orange and green but reddish and brownish. And yes the last instar or molted stage of the larva loses its tale and has an eye spot in its place. Sphinx larva in general are called the horntail larva since they have a tail.

This is a beautiful and spectacular larva...just found my first Pandorus larva last week also. They do eat grape leaves, porcelain vine (Ampelopsis sp) as well as Virginia creeper.
When you see these large larva moving like that at this time of year, they are on their way to find a place to pupate. They overwinter as pupa.
Pandorus Sphinx
by: Anonymous

Eumorpha Pandorus sphinx moth larva, can be either green or orange, wears a horn on the end of the abdomen which is replaced by a button in the last instar. Feeds on Virginia Creeper. See Wikipedia entry for more photos.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Insect Identification

Return to four inch orange caterpillar (Pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar)








Doug's Facebook Page