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Pale Brown Hawk Moth Caterpillars

Theretra latreillii

Photo by ShannaB
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Notes:

This series shows two hungry Hawk Moth caterpillars found together on the same stem of our grapevine. The first one (orange specimen) was about 3.5cm long, while the second one (dark brown specimen) was significantly larger - about 6cm long.

Reference Links:

Theretra latreillii, Pale Brown Hawk Moth - Theretra latreillii

Species ID Suggestions

Sphinx moth caterpillar

Theretra latreillii

Reference Link
FranziskaBauer
1

Comments (11)
ShannaB
Thanks Franziska, I'll go with that!
FranziskaBauer
Hi Shanna! I didn't intend to give a firm determination, but it looks *very* much like Theretra latreillii but I am not fimiliar with the caterpillars of other Theretra species. So I would give it the name Theretra cf. latreillii :-) @eyespots: the thoracic segments of your caterpillar are somewhat contracted so therefore the eyespots seem to be situated closer to the head. When the thoracic segments are expanded they optically move away from the head. So in fact, the position of the eyespots of your caterpillar and those in the link is the same :-) Nice finding, this caterpillar looks so funny!
ShannaB
Thanks Mac! And thank you Franziska for the species suggestion. I had a good look at that one but I wrote it off as the eyespots seem much further back on the pictured specimens than the eyespots on mine. If you can convince me that the eyespot placement doesn't matter, I'm willing to go with it! : )
ShannaB
Thanks Maria! The eyespots are really cool. : )

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Wilds of South-East Queensland
Mission
Moths of the World
Mission
Caterpillars and larvae of the World
Photographed
PublishedApril 6, 2013

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