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Oleander Hawk Moth Caterpillar

Family Sphingidae, Daphnis hypothous

Photo by Andrea Lim
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Bright lime green caterpillar to 8cms, pale blue and whit eye spots. When disturbed it curled up the front of its body to make its 'eyes' bigger and scarier.

Habitat:

Feeding on Dillenia suffruticosa at Cattana Wetlands QLD

Reference Links:

Oleander Hawk-moth - Daphnis nerii - Overview, Daphnis hypothous, Daphnis hypothous

Species ID Suggestions

Sphingidae moth

Daphnis hypothous

Reference Link
FranziskaBauer
1

Comments (5)
craigwilliams
Hello Andrea, this is a very interesting spotting as there aren't so many feeding records for Daphnis hypothous (which isn't the Oleander hawkmoth btw, that's Daphnis nerii) and there aren't any for Dilleniaceae. I'm pretty sure this plant isn't Dillenia suffruticosa. It reminds me of Nauclea orientalis, which would also be a new feeding record but would correspond to other records on plants in the family Rubiaceae. Do you have any other photos which show more of the plant? Also, did you actually observe the caterpillar feeding or see signs of herbivory nearby on the plant? Many thanks!
Andrea Lim
Thank you Franziska for the assistance with the ID. Much appreciated!

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Photographed
PublishedMarch 9, 2013

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