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Post by txrockhunter on Oct 5, 2015 10:23:48 GMT -5
Spotted this caterpillar the other day and I haven't been able to ID. It was about 8-10 INCHES long and about as thick as my thumb. It was the craziest thing! I know things are bigger in Texas, but this was ridiculous!    Thanks for looking! Jeremy |
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Post by orrum on Oct 5, 2015 10:51:49 GMT -5
Ok very d3finitely of Alfred Hitchcock outer space origin!!! My advice....runnnn!!!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,496
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 5, 2015 11:43:13 GMT -5
Holy smokes! I'm a agricultural biologist/wildlife biologist and I know of no north American caterpillar that is 8-10 inches long period. Your picture looks like a sphinx moth larvae, probably the White Lined Sphinx which is common in Texas ( and patterns vary lot in that species) but their maximum length is about 4+ inches. I'm totally stumped and now I've got to go do some research....Mel
PS: OK, the larva appears to be a Banded Sphinx moth caterpillar, again a very variable species. But no north American moth has a larva 8-10 inches long. Methinks you got a bit excited and are overestimating the size a bit. That is a sphinx moth for sure and no sphinx caterpillar in any country, far as I know, or that the books describe, gets over 6 inches. Most top out about 4 inches. Even the Black Witch moth caterpillar ( a freaking huge moth) doesn't have caterpillars large as what you've described. Are you near a nuclear radiation zone?? *L*. That would be a sphinx on steroids!!!!!..Mel
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Post by captbob on Oct 5, 2015 11:55:00 GMT -5
You should have put a GPS tracking device on that sucker! I'd love to see what it will turn into.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Oct 5, 2015 11:57:58 GMT -5
Spotted this caterpillar the other day and I haven't been able to ID. It was about 8-10 INCHES long and about as thick as my thumb. It was the craziest thing! I know things are bigger in Texas, but this was ridiculous! Thanks for looking! Jeremy I found something similar in France - it belongs to the Hawk Moth family. Quite what you have there, exactly, I'm not sure, but hope I may have started you off in the right direction. |
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Post by captbob on Oct 5, 2015 12:09:44 GMT -5
Methinks you got a bit excited and are overestimating the size a bit. MUST NOT POST  |
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Post by vegasjames on Oct 5, 2015 12:30:10 GMT -5
Looks like one of the hornworms that form in to Sphinx moths. Here are a few I found while out at a local mine in here in the desert:   |
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Post by txrockhunter on Oct 5, 2015 12:42:07 GMT -5
Ok, well it might have been closer to 6-8 inches, but it was at least, 6". I wish I had something to measure it by! Here is a little video that I took, not that it help with the size, but it was laboring to get around. When I saw it, I kinda felt like this.....so the size may have been a little overestimated, but not by much!  |
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Post by captbob on Oct 5, 2015 12:43:31 GMT -5
Them!
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Post by captbob on Oct 5, 2015 12:45:06 GMT -5
Okay... who else watched the video txrockhunter posted and was looking at the rocks? |
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Post by Pat on Oct 5, 2015 12:55:19 GMT -5
Resembles some scarves I've seen, by Burberry, I think. Gives me the creeps!
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liz
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2014
Posts: 83 
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Post by liz on Oct 5, 2015 13:25:50 GMT -5
Both caterpillars have beautiful markings and colors.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2015 14:31:42 GMT -5
That beast was searching for a nest. Would have made a great specimen after it eclosed. Great detective work Mel. I expected rockpickerforever to be the bug analyst. Public apology to Jean. I missed her birthday. I suck. Sorry friend. Happy birthday. |
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,818 
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Post by Mark K on Oct 5, 2015 20:18:34 GMT -5
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,818
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Post by Mark K on Oct 5, 2015 20:20:19 GMT -5
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Post by rockpickerforever on Oct 7, 2015 15:10:17 GMT -5
The night I found the kingsnake in my garden recently, I saw a LARGE Sphinx Moth buzzing about. It was huge, bigger than a hummingbird!
A week or so after that, I found these larva 
attempting to strip my one tomato plant bare of leaves! Have picked more off since that initial find.
I hate these things! Their back pair of legs can hang on so strong, if you grab them by the head to pull them off the plant, you can actually rip them in half. Stupid worms, that'll teach 'em. |
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Post by Pat on Oct 7, 2015 15:14:37 GMT -5
Once upon a time, we tried to raise tomatoes. Ha! We raised tomato hornworms! Though cute-ish, they will decimate a tomato plant.
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micellular
has rocks in the head
Rock fever is curable with more rocks.
Member since September 2015
Posts: 640
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Post by micellular on Oct 7, 2015 18:51:46 GMT -5
Apparently you can eat them...  |
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Post by rockjunquie on Oct 7, 2015 19:51:56 GMT -5
Apparently you can eat them... I'm glad I already had dinner! Ewwwwww...... There I go being first world again (as my grand daughter would say). |
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garock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,168
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Post by garock on Oct 7, 2015 19:53:59 GMT -5
Ms. Micellular ! I would have to be on my last few heart beats before I would try and eat one of them ! Eeeeeuuuuuuuu !
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