Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Tetrio Sphinx, Giant Gray Sphinx, Frangipani Hornworm, Plumeria Caterpillar

Pseudosphinx tetrio

Description:

More than a dozen of these nearly 6" long caterpillars were clustered together at eye level on a trio of small trees. They are said to bite, but more than that, they have a nasty taste and predators avoid them. I noticed that their tails (tiny, black, at the rear) wag and wiggle like a dog tail. They morph into a sphinx moth.

Habitat:

I don't know what kind of tree they were defoliating, but Wikipedia says they like particularly like Plumeria (frangipani) tree leaves, and will completely defoliate a tree in time.

Notes:

When my camera got too close, they whipped their front ends back and forth, making it hard to get a good photo.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

1 Comment

maplemoth662
maplemoth662 6 years ago

Photo No. 1: is a beautiful photo....two, beautiful caterpillars....

Irene Brady
Spotted by
Irene Brady

Las Amazonas, Loreto, Peru

Spotted on Dec 31, 2010
Submitted on Jan 31, 2016

Related Spottings

Tetrio sphinx Frangipani Caterpiller Pseudosphinx Tetrio caterpillar Sphinx

Nearby Spottings

Golden silk orb-weaver mushroom Giant Bird Snake, Yellow-bellied Puffing Snake Brown-throated Sloth, Three-toed Sloth
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team