Plumeria Moth

Description:

La oruga tiene rayas de color amarillo y negro por el cuerpo, la cabeza y las patas rojizas y una antena en la parte trasera. Recibe el nombre común de "oruga glotona" debido a que puede comer cantidades astronómicas; en 24 horas puede comer el doble de su peso. Esta especie consume las hojas de la planta Plumeria alba y de la Allamanda, árboles que puede defoliar en unos cuantos días. Después se transforma en pupa y finalmente se convierte en una polilla de color gris-café con grandes ojos negros.The adult moth is brown with gray and white markings, and the hindwing is a darker brown. The female may be lighter in tone. The body has gray, white, and black bands. The wingspan is 12.7 to 14 centimeters, and the female is generally slightly larger than the male.[2] The larva is a caterpillar which may exceed 15 centimeters in length. It is black with aposematic yellow bands and a red-orange head. Toward the posterior end is an orange bump with a black horn roughly 2 centimeters long. The legs are orange with black spots. The pupa is about 7 centimeters long. It is yellow when new, turning brown and darkening to a reddish brown as it hardens.

Habitat:

Es nativa de América tropical desde el sur y suroeste de Estados Unidos hasta Brasil. It is native to the tropical and subtropical Americas from the southern and southwestern United States to Brazil. The occasional individual has been recorded as far north as the northeastern United States