A global community of nature enthusiasts
photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Family Sphingidae, Daphnis hypothous
Bright lime green caterpillar to 8cms, pale blue and whit eye spots. When disturbed it curled up the front of its body to make its 'eyes' bigger and scarier.
Feeding on Dillenia suffruticosa at Cattana Wetlands QLD
Hello Andrea, this is a very interesting spotting as there aren't so many feeding records for Daphnis hypothous (which isn't the Oleander hawkmoth btw, that's Daphnis nerii) and there aren't any for Dilleniaceae. I'm pretty sure this plant isn't Dillenia suffruticosa. It reminds me of Nauclea orientalis, which would also be a new feeding record but would correspond to other records on plants in the family Rubiaceae. Do you have any other photos which show more of the plant? Also, did you actually observe the caterpillar feeding or see signs of herbivory nearby on the plant? Many thanks!
Spotted on Mar 9, 2013
Submitted on Mar 9, 2013
