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Photo#348343
Day 40

Day 40
Alameda County, California, USA
Size: ~1.3 in. (33 mm)
November 1. This specimen looks as if it would be 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches if straightened out. It may or may not be the one previously described as "the one that stayed on blackberry," as one larva migrated back from a buddleia container to the container that originally held only blackberry. (All three containers now have both kinds of leaves.)

Images of this individual: tag all
Eggs on blackberry Hatching Hatchling, Day 1 Day 2 Day 2, later Day 3 Day 3: 7 larvae Day 4 Day 6 Day 8, dorsal view Day 8, lateral view Day 8, front end Day 10 Day 10, hanging posture Day 19, typical leaf damage Day 19, molt Day 23 Day 28 Day 28, another specimen Day 30, advanced leaf damage Day 35, webby nest Day 40 Day 40, head Day 40, head Day 41, another specimen Day 42, hats off Day 42, hats off Day 42, hats off Day 42, hats off Day 42, exuviae Day 42, exuviae Day 60, at bottom of tank Day 62, leaf nest Day 62, paper nest Day 62, still striped Day 63, intermediate coloring Day 65, posterior view

same as mine
It appears to be the same species as

I'll be very interested to see what it turns out to be.

 
Avocado eaters?
According to various Web pages, Sabulodes aegrotata caterpillars are a major pest in avocado orchards. I'll try avocado leaves as forage tomorrow. We don't have an avocado tree, but enough of a neighbor's tree hangs over our back fence.

 
If so . . .
then the adult is plainer than what I expected Little FancyPants to turn into. Just brown with subtle markings.

Mine haven't shown themselves to be truly omnivorous. They eat buddleia and blackberry. They've ignored rose, loquat, and pelargonium although the first two of those are in Rosaceae, like blackberry, and I found eggshells resembling theirs on a loquat leaf. I tried pelargonium because other geometrid larvae are on it.

Could the presence/absence of the two spots on the head be sexual dimorphism? It's a puzzle.

i am just really enjoying these caterpillers!
thanks for sharing them! beautiful
do they have names?

 
Glad you like them
They don't have names, but I think of them as distinct individuals, if only by location. I'm surprised that they behave differently, making their nests in various ways, one against glass, others between leaves and so on.

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