Last summer I stumbled upon a large and very beautiful caterpillar that I had not seen before. It was the larva of the pandora sphinx moth (Eudorpha pandorus) on virginia creeper vine that commonly grows on trees. Unlike most sphinx moth caterpillars, these don't have a horn on their rear end. Instead, they have a hard "button" that looks like an eye. Anyway, here is the caterpillar. For scale, its a bit larger than your thumb.
Pandora sphinx moth caterpillar by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Pandora sphinx moth caterpillar by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Members of this family pupate underground. So when it was time I put it into a bucket of dirt in the basement. Later, I placed the pupa in a container in the refrigerator, and there it stayed for several months until the weather warmed.
Pandora sphinx moth pupa by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Once it was time to move things along, the pupa was kept in a bowl of dirt in a bug cage, and I checked on it every morning. The big day came in June when a large and beautiful moth was in the bug cage, and here it is! Fortunately I got to it before it was inclined to fly, so photographing was easy.
Pandora sphinx moth by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
The same day, I put the moth deep into the woods in a well sheltered spot near where I had found the caterpillar.
Here's that "button" on the rear end. Thanks for looking!
Pandora sphinx moth caterpillar by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Raising a pandora sphinx moth
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- MarkSturtevant
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Raising a pandora sphinx moth
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters
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Re: Raising a pandora sphinx moth
What a great story, beautiful animal in several stages. Well done.
- rjlittlefield
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Re: Raising a pandora sphinx moth
Beautiful in every way -- thanks!
--Rik
--Rik
Re: Raising a pandora sphinx moth
Hello Mark
Beautiful and interesting.
I like it very much!
Kurt
Beautiful and interesting.
I like it very much!
Kurt