Bolivian Caterpillar

Pseudosphinx tetrio. It is a late instar larva and I would assume it is heading down the tree to pupate. I reared these several times while living in South Florida. In 1998 I found about a 100 2nd/3rd instar lavae feeding on frangipani (Plumeria alba)in Dade County. By the time they pupated, Big larva can be challanging. I had them in seven plastic 30 gallon trash cans and could they eat. I knew where every Frangipani tree grew in Broward, Martin and Palm Beach County. Of the 100+ larva only 64 emerged. The remaining pupae were inficted with a virus of some sort or possibly a pesticide I brought home on the leaves I gathered. They are the largest sphinx moths in my collection.

I was surprised by the power of there grip. I put a large late instar larva on my shirt and it refused to let go. I learned that ice cold water would cause them to release and then curl into a circle. It was fun.