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Colobura dirce
Large last instar larva of the Dirce Beauty. The first 3 rows of urticating spines below the head are white, the rest are yellow. There are white-yellow patches on the sides of the body. Family Nymphalidae.
Tropical forest of the Chiflon Waterfall, below the town of Tzimol, Chiapas, Mexico.
See the listed reference for pictures of the adult butterfly.
Thank you Luis. We are indeed, it's always great to see different individuals in different poses! :)
Great find Lauren! It seems that we are finding the same organisms.
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/117...
I apologize, but this one is really Colobura dirce:
http://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/imag...
http://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/L/co...
To my knowledge there is NO Automeris memusae, but a Leucanella memusae, which looks very similar, but note the size of the white patch at the side of the body and the different shape of the spikes.
Yours looks like a Biblidinae with the prolonged and "bowed" first antennae pair, which, however, is not clearly visible. Please, do a re-check!
I have come across this larva again and on the internet and recently spotted the adult. This has turned out to be the last instar larva of the Io Moth Automeris memusae. Adult spotting:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/227....
Thank you bayucca and Juan Carlos, I agree with you on the identification.
Looks for me more like a butterfly caterpillar than Saturniidae. Leucanella sp. cats are very similar but have more and more dense hairs/spikes. Janeira is not found in Mexico.
Nymphalidae, Colobura dirce. Unfortunately I have no electronic reference.
Es muy parecida a la que yo postee, sin embargo creo que si son bastante diferentes las especies.