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Photo#87697
Unknown Sphinx Caterpillar - Amorpha juglandis - female

Unknown Sphinx Caterpillar - Amorpha juglandis - Female
Austin, Travis County, Texas, USA
November 18, 2006
Size: about 2.25"
Found this little guy in my backyard today. I am pretty sure he is a Sphinx, but I'm not sure where to put it. He was on a pecan tree, but I don't think he was eating its leaves. Also, what does it eat?

Images of this individual: tag all
Unknown Sphinx Caterpillar - Amorpha juglandis - female Amorpha juglandis - female Unknown Sphinx Caterpillar - Amorpha juglandis Unknown Sphinx Caterpillar - Amorpha juglandis - female

Another try
This female

Came to my porch light a couple of nights ago, and she has given me some eggs. I don't know what the chances are that she successfully mated, but I am going to have another try :).

Bad news
It seems like the eggs are infertile. They still look exactly the same as they did when I saw them for the first time, and it's been over two weeks. Also, I just found a new specimen on the same tree today, so I'm not too sad about the lost eggs after all :)

eggs!?!
Well, As I mentioned when I posted the adult images, My cat found some males, and I put them together. I didn't think they were in any shape to reproduce with my healthy female, yet the cage is now littered with tiny green eggs. I can only assume they made it happen :). How long do they take to hatch, and what should I do to take care of them? For now, I just keep putting fresh leaves in the cage, because I have no idea when the caterpillars might emerge.

 
Take a look at my article on raising caterpillars
(here) - I hope that will help you with this project. I'd expect a week or two to pass before the eggs hatch, but there's no harm in putting fresh host plant leaves in before then, just in case. Good luck - I hope you get some good shots of the caterpillars when/if they emerge, and please also take measurements of them, as that's the detail that the majority of our larval images are missing.
BTW Female moths will sometimes lay infertile eggs if they have not mated successfully, but since you provided male companionship for yours, the chances are good that they'll be fertile.

 
will do.
I am worried that the eggs are infertile though. I just posted some images of them. I didn't mention that it's been at least a week, so I guess I'll know for sure whether she was successful pretty soon.

update: I have the pupa in my
update: I have the pupa in my fridge now. Seeing as how the groundhog tells us winter's over (:P), think I should put it back out in the cage and see if he emerges, or wait a little longer?

 
I'm guessing you may have to wait a while before emergence
judging by our data map. We're still pretty cold in FL - I'd probably wait a few more weeks. Still, I'm guessing the main risk to the pupa is possible predation - if you can keep it safe from being eaten, the timing probably is not crucial - it'll come out when it's ready.

 
well
I guess they come out earlier in my area, because not only did she emerge in early april, but I spotted and collected a few more adults within 24 hours of this one emerging.

 
Great!
I see you just posted the adult images. You'll need to edit the dates on those shots, though, as they still read November, like the larva.

Looks like it might be the walnut Sphinx
Images in the guide here at Amorpha juglandis. And since they eat Walnuts and Hickories, it's not surprising that you found him on a Pecan!

 
thanks!
I agree with your ID based on those pictures! Hopefully I can get him to eat now, and I'll be able to keep him.

 
He looks large enough that he may be done eating
and may be ready to pupate. If you found him on the pecan and he wasn't eating it, he's likely ready to shed his skin or pupate. See Hannah's article on raising caterpillars here

 
pupation
It seems you were correct. Later on the day that I found him, I put him in a plastic cage for small animals with plenty of air holes in the top. In the cage I put a lot of leaves from the pecan tree (which he never ate to my knowledge), plus a bunch of sticks, dirt, and dead leaf bits. And I made some of it wet. Before I had a chance to take anyone's wonderful advice, he had crawled under the dirt, but visible through the side of the cage. I assumed it was to pupate. The next day he had dug to some place under the dirt not visible to me, and that was about 2 weeks ago. To my knowledge, he is happily pupating (the cage is kept outside so he gets a sense of the ambient temperature).

I suppose I'm to simply wait for spring now?

 
Sounds like you did everything right
including keeping the cage outside. If the cage is not in an outbuilding or garage you should probably cover it with loose leaves or something similar for added winter protection, until the worst of the cold weather is over, as the temperature in your cage is going to be colder than if he were in the ground. Good luck!

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