Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Caterpillar of the day: Xylophanes [germen?]

In the Cacao Sector of the ACG today I finally saw my first early-instar Xylophanes sp. caterpillar (I think Xylophanes germen). Green with mostly yellow eyespots! I hope to see more, but apparently they are more frequently observed here in May and June. One of the parataxonomists at Cacao told me that there are roughly 7-8 species of Xylophanes in the Cacao Sector alone!

Xylophanes sp. (Sphingidae)





I was excited to see yet another bag labelled "Sphingidae", but unfortunately for me (and the caterpillar) it had been parasitized:



You can even see the classic Sphingidae 'horn' in what is left of the deflated caterpillar body. An even better photo is below. This is a parasitized Xylophanes cthulhu caterpillar that I came across on the ACG caterpillar database - you can even see the eyespots still!


It almost looks like the paracitoid cocoon is dressed as a ghost for Halloween doesn't it? If the caterpillar that I observed today really is Xylophanes germen, it would be great to see this guy in its later instars - they are pretty intense.

Xylophanes germen (Sphingidae)
Photos below from the ACG caterpillar database

Ultimate instar:
DHJ44484
DHJ88755
DHJ468173

[relatively drab] Adult:
DHJ452349

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