What The Heck Is This?
I noticed several of these enormous caterpillars on my Starflowers (Pentas lanceolata) this morning.
Enormous and, I might add, really ugly. Note that the head and the butt (do caterpillars have a butt?) are kind of brown and slimy looking, as if it were pooping at both ends.
Apparently Pentas are a host plant for the Tersa sphinx moth, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what this is. Can anybody ID this critter?
gardeninacity 
That whip in the back tells me that most likely it is a moth in the Sphingidae family. Let me ask around for more info!
Thanks! Any help appreciated.
I think it’s a white lined sphinx caterpillar. They can be very variable from green to brown, and that really looks like what I’ve seen pictures of when I was working on my post about the moths. There’s been a lot of white lined sphinx moths in our area, so that’s my guess.They aren’t supposed to be damaging like tomato hornworms, they just look a bit ugly.
Marian says hawkmoth, but the two are related, right? I like this general sort of moth, they remind me of hummingbirds, And I have seen the adults in our garden.
I think they are the same thing. Hawkmoth is the common name and can refer to a few different moths in the same family.
Yikes, that is definitely not a pretty caterpillar. I might be tempted to run away from it…. 😉
The gross out factor is countered by the fascination factor. Plus it does turn into a cool adult. (Isn’t that often the case?)
I don’t know what it is but I have his cousin eating all the leaves off my lilac. It has a horn too.
Oh, now I’m going to have to go check my lilac.
The people over at buggide.net tell me mine is a Laurel sphinx moth caterpillar (Sphinx kalmiae)
I uploaded to the same site and got the white lined sphinx moth.
Maybe some sort of spurge hawk moth caterpillar?
That’s what Marian says, if you see below.
That is a interesting looking critter!
Interesting, yes. But still ugly.
Hyles gallii caterpillar, black color variant. i.e. hawkmoth
What a find! I’ve never seen a black one.
Cool! We definitely have the adult hawkmoth and other sphinx moth adults in the garden. Nice to think that we’ve got the caterpillars.
Wow I don’t think it’s too ugly – looks sort of iridescent gold on the black. Cool.
Iridescent gold or no, it’s still ugly. But it turns into a cool moth, so that’s ok.
That is one ugly dude you caught there and I hate to hear NH Gardener has them in his yard because that means they’re close to home here.
But don’t you think the adult hawkmoths are cool? They come out during the day and hover like hummingbirds, plus they have ridiculously long probosces.
That’s amazing! I’ve seen that moth in our garden, but never found a caterpillar. (I looked up what Marian says it is). I managed to get some snaps of the moth last year: http://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/more-hawk-moths/
I always thought that family of moths looked like they could have been drawn by Dr. Seuss. They are fun to have around.
I’m a bit late to the identification party, but this was very cool, thanks for posting. I had to look up all the possible suspects that folks suggested and I feel like I know more about moths and caterpillars now.
You’re welcome. I’ve seen the adults many times but this is the first time I have seen one of the caterpillars.
Lucky guy, Jason, to find such a beauty in your garden! Look at the markings and the little “horn” – hope you relocated it safely without hurting it. 😉
I left them where they were. We’re coming to the end of the season for Pentas anyway. Not sure what I should do when I throw away the plants, though. The only caterpillars I ever kill are tomato hornworms.
Load the photo to BugGuide.net. You will get an answer from someone who really knows. I have submitted two insects and got my answer within minutes. They are usually entomologists that do the ID.
What a great resource! I signed up and already have a response – it is a white lined sphinx moth, which confirms Stephi’s ID.
What an amazing looking future moth.I hope your plants survive it’s appetite.xxxx
At this point in the year I’m not too concerned.
He ain’t pretty but deep fry him with a little breading and I bet he would be tasty!