You're asking for a personal opinion, but IMHO, I would dispose of them, except maybe 1 or 2 if you're interesting in raising them. Sometimes I get that crazy idea to raise a strange moth, not knowing what it will look like when it makes a cocoon and emerges. Sometimes I don't - like right now when most of the fennel is gone! LOL! If you have lots of fennel or dill to share, it's really up to you if you want to allow them to eat. If the moth you believe it is, is a small one, they probably won't eat much. Good luck and let us know how it progresses! Susan

Just a guess, it is a little hard to tell. Not sure what part of Florida you are in but I believe the virginia creeper sphinx is known to live here, at least in some of Florida.

Interesting - thanks for that. So LA is an affected area - I will check the CA forum, but I don't remember seeing a post on this. I can already tell from the male and female moth pics that I will have trouble ID'ing the LBAM on the fly. I'm also worried that I could send eggs by mail on seeds I've collected, although my city isn't listed as affected yet. I think APHIS has an impossible job on their hands and the politics around free trade exacerbate it tremendously. I dealt with them once a decade ago when Russia wanted to export spruce/pine/fir two-by-fours to the US and to get past bark beetle restrictions, the Russians were going to use spent nuclear fuel rods from their subs to irradiate each stud! APHIS was so hamstrung my the Commerce Dept, that it wasn't until a federal judge ruled that the dept. could offer sane restrictions. Whatever one thinks of free trade, the free movement of pests and pathogens in a natural consequence.

No update comments yet on the above-linked YouTube about this project. Note that this is an Eastern Hemisphere moth and will not be seen in the States. A common noctuid caterpillar like this would probably pupate quite soon after reaching that stage of maturity. Might overwinter in the pupa given the right conditions.