I can't find the caterpillar in any of my books under Potato, Tomato, or Solanaceum/nightshade family, but then there are many generalist moths that will use most anything. If I have time, I'll thumb through my books, and maybe it'll be there. I assume you're in south Florida, southern California or south Texas, so it could be a tropical moth that my books wouldn't list. I Googled potato tree to find out about it, and the pictures of the flowers look like Carolina nightshade. I assume the flowers are much bigger than the Carolina nightshade, though? 'Looks like an interesting plant! Don't be surprised if you find tomato or tobacco hornworms on it! Sherry

Hey everyone, there are actually 2 very very simular looking caterpillars and they both feed on Hackberry..: the first one is the TAWNY EMPEROR caterpillar: it is mostly green and has 2 wide yellow stripes on its uppersides and straight yellow bands on its lower sides.The adult has a wingspan of about 2.5 inches. the second one is the HACKBERRY BUTTERFLY caterpillar:it looks very much like the first one mentioned,but this one has yellowish V-markings along the sides,the narrow bands on upper sides are more narrow.The knobs on the head are usually longer than the ones from the Tawny Emperor. This Butterfly is with his 2 inches wingspan a lil smaller than the T.E. and also the colors are a lil lighter. The Hackberry Butterfly is more common.. Butterfly-Greetings Susanne(SUE) Hackberry Butterfly: http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg284.html Here is a link that might be useful: Tawny Emperor

If the pot is not in an enclosure of some sort, don't count on it not wandering. BST can travel pretty fast when looking for a place to pupate. They can move quite a distance from the host plants. Maryann

Oh I love a challenge! Right now I am wrestling with False Boneset. If you want a real head scratcher, look that up! Anyhow, my gut is telling me Fall Webworm (Hyphantria cuea). These guys are so variable. Also, depending on the angle the picture is taken at, it can look different. Look at some pictures on the web like Bugguide. Some look close to your guy/gal some completely different. One common characteristic is the very long hairs. Another possibility is the salt marsh moth(Estigmene acrea)but I think the hairs, while long, are not quite as long as on a fall webworm. Any other guesses? Miss Sherry will get it in one! -Elisabeth Here is a link that might be useful: Bugguide Fall Webworm