Tersa Sphinx Moth Caterpillars
MissSherry
8 years ago
I found three tersa sphinx moth cats a ?few weeks ago - they were small and all green. I brought them in to raise myself, and the other day when I was getting more food for them, I found another one, very tiny and green. These three all turned brown - in the past, some would remain green in the late instars. Tersa sphinx moths are the only lep I can think of off the top of my head that prefer to lay their eggs on a non-native plant, pentas. Pentas are in the same family of plants as buttonweed, their natural host, but if I have pentas, they'll ignore any buttonweed I leave in the garden.
These cats get very big considering that the moths aren't really very big -
I expect them to overwinter, would be very surprised if they emerge this year.
Sherry
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MissSherry
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Pentas ... old fashioned variety for nectar plants
Comments (20)Walmart nearly always has pentas in their first spring shipment of plants, so I usually just buy mine there. Before I put them in my cart, I check to make SURE there's no cultivar name, like New Look. I tried New Look pentas one year, and the butterflies ignored them - never again. Almost Eden is a mail-order nursery in Louisiana that has numerous colors of pentas, and their prices (including shipping prices) are very reasonable. I've ordered pentas from them and the plants have always grown beautifully - last year I ordered some rose colored ones from them, because Walmart never carries that color. Unless you're in south Florida, chances are you don't need shorter growing pentas like 'New Look' anyway. They're very cold sensitive, and they've never come back for me, even in springs after very mild winters, where we only had one or two very mild freezes - most people have to start over with them every year. Mine usually only grow about 3' or 4' tall, never the full 8' or 9' you hear about in south Florida. Sherry...See Morecaterpillar id help.. a hornworm
Comments (6)The hornworm in your picture is a tersa sphinx, and that's the only type of hornworm I know of with entirely black ovals down its body. Tersa sphinx moth caterpillars/hornworms look different in their earlier instars - the one in the picture is a late instar cat. Tersa sphinx hornworms are commonly found on garden pentas, which are from Africa, but their natural host plant is diodia/buttonweed, which is a low-growing weed. The only other hornworm I know of with black ovals down its side would be a pandorus sphinx moth caterpillar, and the ovals are only black rings filled in by other colors in a few of the wide range of colors they come in. They eat wild grape vines, Virginia creeper, and ampelopsis. Here's a link to some pictures of pandorus sphinx moth cats - they come in at least 4 different colors. MissSherry Here is a link that might be useful: Pandorus Sphinx Moth Cat Pictues...See MoreTersa Sphinx Moth Cat in trouble?
Comments (2)I'm sorry, Khakitag, but it's a goner. It's been parasitized. While it may live to pupate, a moth will not emerge, but rather the parasites that have been consuming it's internal organs. It won't help to remove the cocoons of the parasite because they've already done the damage internally. I know it's sad, huh? If you look for eggs or hatchlings, and want to raise one, you'll have better luck at getting to them before the parasitic wasps do. The sphinx and silk moths are particularly susceptible to parasitization. I have about 20 Tersas I'm raising by hand right now because the predators were eating them. I guess that could be a good thing because I had just tons of eggs, and the Tersa mama is still laying eggs. She must have layed hundreds of them. Was your Tersa cat on hamelia patens (Texas Firebush)? Susan...See MoreCaterpillars
Comments (11)Yea, for your PCs, MissSherry! I brought in 5 Sleepy Oranges this morning. They remind me of grass green velvet! The little female has been flitting around the garden for several days. Their favorite in my garden is Senna bicapsularis - also a favorite of the Cloudless Sulphurs. The Question Marks are numerous this year as well as Red Admirals. The smallest butterflies I have raised are Grey Hairstreaks - their chrysalis looks like a tiny bean seed - and the Common Sootywing skipper. I have a persistent Silver Spotted skipper that I wish would deposit some eggs on my bush beans. I might not ever find them, though, lol! Still seeing BSTs, as well. Susan...See Morevickibline
8 years agoMissSherry
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8 years ago
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