Thanks Sherry! I was secretly hoping for something more exotic but we're usually not that lucky this far north. It has been a really slow butterfly year so far. I still haven't seen any eastern or black swallowtails. I finally broke down and went to the monarch waystation at the lake to get monarch eggs. We have tons of large common milkweed and it remains empty. Maybe I'll start eating it so it doesn't go to waste ;)

Was it eating it or just resting? Sometimes they go off the host plant to rest and molt. Many predators are searching host plants for caterpillars. I saw a book listed for "Butterflies of Trinidad and Tobago", but there are only out of print copies and they are expensive. Do you have a library? Maybe you could check out some field guides there about butterflies. In North American, the caterpillars eat: "Habitat tropical to Transition Zone woodland and Citrus groves. Ranges south to Colombia, Bimini, and Cuba. Hostplants tree and herb Rutaceae: Citrus sinensis, limon, aurantium, grandis (?), Zanthoxylum fagara, americanum, clava-herculis, hirsutum, Ptelea trifoliata, Ruta graveolens, Casimiroa edulis, Dictamnus albus, Amyris elemifera, Choisya; Piperaceae: four spp. of Piper in Cuba. R. Sim observed eggs laid on (and larvae eating) Staphyleaceae: Staphylea trifolia. Records of Nyssa sylvatica (Nyssaceae), Persea borbonia (Lauraceae), and Populus (Salicaceae) seem erroneous. Both P. cresphontes and P. zelicaon(6) fed on Citrus in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif., though cresphontes was a stray there and is now eradicated." This is from "The Butterflies of North America, A Natural History and Field Guide" by Dr. James A. Scott. I also searched on the host plant database. You can put in the plant or the butterfly/moth, but you have to use the latin name. Here is a link that might be useful: Host Plant Database for Papilio cresphontes Giant Swallowtail

bananasinohio and I are trying to ID a similar caterpillar. This post popped up in my Google search. I knew it was not a zebra. Elisabeth knew it was a toadflax brocade. Figured I'd correct it since other searchers will find it too. http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=10177

Siam, I've been looking for it on the internet and can't find it. The shape of the body, with the tapered end, makes me think it's some type of Heterocampa moth, but, the spikes and the coloration make me think it might be some type of Heliconian or longwing butterfly caterpillar. Any chance the weed might be a passionvine? I don't have any books about caterpillars, moths, or butterflies from the West Indies, so I'm going to see if I can find one to order. I have a book case full of nature books, but there's still room for a few more books! Sherry