Sphinx moth caterpillars
April 21, 2006
Recently I posted a picture of a sphinx (or hawk) moth that I photographed in my front garden. Today I spotted several large caterpillars on the gaura under the vitex tree, and after looking them up on the internet I learned they are the larvae of the white-lined sphinx moth. I collected three of them and some gaura foliage in a butterfly habitat container. It should be fun to watch them pupate and hatch. Look for more photos in a few weeks, if all goes well.
For a picture of this moth, plus information on how to raise them from caterpillars, see http://www.birds-n-garden.com/white-lined_sphinx_hummingbird_moths.html.
Pam, I can’t believe it! My gaura was also being devoured. I was able to ID the caterpillar
on Bill Oehlke’s Sphinx moth site. After the storms and hail went through I found the poor thing
lying on the ground, barely moving. Because the ground was so sodden, I thought it might
do better to pupate in potting soil in a container, too. I haven’t done this before, any advice?
The nice thing about guara is that it comes back quickly. I’ve put three caterpillars in one of those cylindrical containers with net sides and a clear zippered top, along with fresh guara stems every day. I read that you should put a couple of inches of dirt in the bottom of the container for them to pupate in. Plus add a damp paper towel for a water source. Keep your container outside on a porch; inside is too cold for them. Once they burrow underground to pupate, it should take about 2 weeks for them to emerge as sphinx moths. Good luck with yours, Annie. Let’s compare notes in a couple of weeks.
Pam, thank you for the advice. This morning I placed the caterpillar on the surface of some damp potting soil with a fresh wand of gaura and a damp paper towel, but had to leave… no sign of him when I got back, no bites out of the gaura. The gaura was not an established plant, just a small one put in a few weeks ago, so there was not much left! I’ll let you know if I ever get a sphinx moth sighting.
Annie
Could he have crawled away? Or do you think he dug in to pupate already? Our caterpillars are ravenous, and I’m making a dent in my guara to keep them in food. Hopefully they’ll pupate soon. . .