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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) » Macroglossinae » Dilophonotini » Hemaris » Snowberry Clearwing - Hodges#7855 (Hemaris diffinis)
Photo#726671
Purple-backed green caterpillar - Hemaris diffinis
Copyright © 2012 Tim Eisele

Purple-backed green caterpillar - Hemaris diffinis
Atlantic Mine, Houghton County, Michigan, USA
July 13, 2012
Size: About an inch long
Sphinx caterpillar found crawling on a piece of clothing that had fallen onto the grass in our backyard. I'm not having much luck finding anything with that particular color pattern, and we don't know the foodplant. We kept it in a jar and it pupated within a couple of days, but no adult emerged.

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Purple-backed green caterpillar - Hemaris diffinis Purple-backed green caterpillar - Hemaris diffinis Purple-backed green caterpillar - Hemaris diffinis
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Contributed by Tim Eisele on 29 November, 2012 - 4:47am
Last updated 30 November, 2012 - 11:15am

Moved
Moved from Sphinx Moths.
… Ryan St Laurent, 30 November, 2012 - 11:15am login or register to post comments

My guess
I am not very familiar with U.S. hawkmoths, but I am a fan of these moths. If had found this caterpillar I would have picked #7855 Hemaris diffinis (Snowberry Clearwing Moth) after consulting David Wagner's Caterpillars of Eastern North America book. The "purple back" indicates that the caterpillar is ready to pupate (developing pupal skin I suppose) as it eventually did. Moth probably won't emerge until spring. Now I let the experts decide whether I am correct.
… Peter Homann, 29 November, 2012 - 10:16am login or register to post comments

 
Thank you!
That looks like a very good match. The pupa is currently in my refrigerator to simulate winter, so maybe I'll get an adult at some point to confirm this.
… Tim Eisele, 30 November, 2012 - 4:37am login or register to post comments

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