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Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth

Empyreuma affinis

Description:

A fascinating creature that makes astonishing changes as it developes. It starts as a bright green egg that hatches into a fuzzy orange and white-spotted larva. It proceeds to eat and grow and molt until it is about 2 1/4" long. At this point it sheds its skin one last time and shrinks to about an inch after it wraps itself into a dark brown almost black pupa with a silky and hairy enclosing cocoon. It ecloses finally as a black adult with bright red wings and iridescent blue-green body hairs and its namesake white spots running down its abdomen.

Habitat:

Host plant - Oleander. Also eats yellow allamanda vine as a caterpillar

Notes:

A few wild oleander moths. The first four pictures are of one I raised on my own. I have a much greater understanding of their life cycles from the experience

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4 Comments

hg_williams3
hg_williams3 11 years ago

sure igorneau

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 11 years ago

Amazing! Could you add this and your other beautiful moths to my mission, Moths of the Americas? Thanks!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8841...

hg_williams3
hg_williams3 11 years ago

thanks

KarenL
KarenL 11 years ago

Beautiful!

hg_williams3
Spotted by
hg_williams3

Turks and Caicos Islands

Spotted on Feb 23, 2012
Submitted on Jan 19, 2012

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