which type of catepillar? - Erinnyis alope

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Moved from Erinnyis.

… Teá Montagna, 23 February, 2024 - 2:34pm

Moved to Genus

This is certainly Erinnyis... I'm stuck between E. ello and E. alope though. This isn't a final instar larvae so it may be tough to nail down.

… Teá Montagna, 14 March, 2016 - 2:35pm

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Moved from Sphinx Moths.

… Teá Montagna, 14 March, 2016 - 2:33pm

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Moved from Butterflies and Moths.

… john and jane balaban, 31 January, 2014 - 9:25pm

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Moved from ID Request.

… v belov, 30 January, 2014 - 11:04am

Maybe something in Erinnyis

The cocoon mass may belong to parasitoid wasps

… john and jane balaban, 19 January, 2014 - 3:44pm

thanks!

First papaya tree which I grew from seed and heard of problems with parasitic wasps but didn't know how to recognize them in their early stages - I appreciate the info!

… Nancy Glickman, 20 January, 2014 - 12:59pm

Are any of these three photos of the same specimen?

Photos should only be linked if they are of the same specimen. The white fluff in the other two photos is a mass of cocoons made by larvae of parasitic wasps (Braconidae: Cotesia) that developed inside a caterpillar. This caterpillar seems to be some kind of hornworm (Sphingidae). The one in the third photo may be the same species. A lot of hornworms are parasitized by Cotesia species.

… Charley Eiseman, 19 January, 2014 - 3:41pm

sorry for the confusion!

Since I saw one caterpillar emerging from the white cottony cocoon, and another cocoon intact and then one fully emerged caterpillar all within a leaf or two of each other, I thought the sequence might help in the ID, but my mistake. My apologies! I wasn't familiar w/ how parasitic wasps start their existence thus didn't realize the difference in species. Thanks for the lead on Sphingidae. I had seen the "horn" in the fully emerged caterpillar but had looked thru BugNet for hornworm photos to find a match but didn't see 1 or missed it in my search.

… Nancy Glickman, 20 January, 2014 - 1:06pm