Elm Sphinx caterpillar for August in PA - Ceratomia amyntor

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths (Bombycoidea) » Sphinx Moths (Sphingidae) » Sphinginae » Sphingini » Ceratomia » Elm Sphinx - Hodges#7786 (Ceratomia amyntor)

Photo#319385

Copyright © 2009 Abigail Parker

Elm Sphinx caterpillar for August in PA - Ceratomia amyntor

Temple University Campus, North Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA
August 12, 2009
Size: 3.5 inches

---------Original ID Request Text----------
Subway Sphinx - prepupal caterpillar

My husband found this sphinx caterpillar in the Temple U. subway station in North Philadelphia and brought it home for me. No idea where it came from or what its foodplant was. It was in the "prepupal wandering" stage, so color and texture are probably not normal.

Key features, other than size and color:
Granulose integument
Four "spikes" on thorax
Diagonal white lines, rear one extending onto horn
Horn green and granulose

The caterpillar has disappeared into a container of soil now, so I can't take more photos w/o digging it up.

Images of this individual: tag all

Elm Sphinx caterpillar for August in PA - Ceratomia amyntor

Elm Sphinx adult for April in PA - Ceratomia amyntor

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Contributed by Abigail Parker on 12 August, 2009 - 7:34pm
Last updated 11 October, 2009 - 6:53pm

Moved

Moved from Frass.

Replaced with a better photo so I could put it in the Guide for August in PA.

… Abigail Parker, 16 August, 2009 - 1:46pm

Frassed

Moved from ID Request. It's been ID'd and the photo's dark and the insect is dirty.

… Abigail Parker, 12 August, 2009 - 9:35pm

Four Horned Sphinx

This is the Four Horned Sphinx, or the Elm Sphinx (Ceratomia amyntor). Very odd place to find a sphinx moth caterpillar! Must have came from a basswood or elm (its main foodplants), which are commonly planted in populated areas as an ornimental tree.

… Ryan St Laurent, 12 August, 2009 - 9:00pm

probably from basswood

Thank you! I looked at pictures of C. amyntor but they were so much more colorful and clean than this dull prepupal one, I didn't think it was a match.

My husband says there are basswood trees on campus, some near the subway station. It must have descended the tree to pupate and just kept going down...and down...and down...

… Abigail Parker, 12 August, 2009 - 9:34pm

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