Pseudosphinx Tetrio

Remember this unidentified caterpillar that I digiscoped during my visit to Canopy Lodge in Panama? Well, it is unidentified no longer. After consultation with the staff of the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, who put me on to the idea that it is a likely candidate for a sphinx moth caterpillar, and a bit of digging through the pages of Bug Guide (one of the best on-line references and forums for the identification of North American insects of which I know), it has been determined to be a member of the Family Sphingidae and the binomial name of Pseudosphinx tetrio can now be ascribed to it with confidence.

P. tetrio, better known as the Tetrio Sphinx Moth, apparently occurs not only in Panama and other Central American countries but occasionally as far north as Florida. According to the information provided on the Bug Guide website, their larval food plant is Frangipani (Plumeria) and other plants in the Dogbane family (Apocynaceae) – which would explain both their appearance and continued existence in Florida where such plants are frequently used in decorative landscaping.