Post by Liang on Aug 8, 2016 20:28:59 GMT -8
This year I found an egg laid near a willow tree that turned out to be a sphinx of the Smerinthus genus. I have reared it on willow and it has pupated, but I am having a difficult time sexing it because I only have one pupa with no others to compare to. Here is the genital opening below on the fourth segment after the wings if anybody would like to help sex it? It weighs 3.2 grams if that helps.
While rearing the caterpillar, I also took careful note of its molts and I only recorded that it had four instars, though I had always thought they were supposed to have five instars. I took pictures of it every single day since first instar which can be seen on my website (www.lianginsects.com/general-insect-timeline/category/smerinthusophthalmica) and even saved every head capsule after each molt. Has anyone else reared Smerinthus caterpillars that only had fourth instars or is this an unusual occurrence?
I am also unsure if it is Smerinthus ophthalmica or S. cerisyi because both are apparently in my region, the Bay Area in northern California. Ophthalmica was once synonymous with Cerisyi but was recently proven to be a distinct species. I have read that the mature Ophthalmica caterpillar has a blue horn while Cerisyi is usually pink, but I don't know if this is true or how reliable this identification method is. My caterpillar had a blue horn in its last instar, shown below, so I assume for now that it is S. ophthalmica?
Any insight or answer to any of these questions is appreciated.
While rearing the caterpillar, I also took careful note of its molts and I only recorded that it had four instars, though I had always thought they were supposed to have five instars. I took pictures of it every single day since first instar which can be seen on my website (www.lianginsects.com/general-insect-timeline/category/smerinthusophthalmica) and even saved every head capsule after each molt. Has anyone else reared Smerinthus caterpillars that only had fourth instars or is this an unusual occurrence?
I am also unsure if it is Smerinthus ophthalmica or S. cerisyi because both are apparently in my region, the Bay Area in northern California. Ophthalmica was once synonymous with Cerisyi but was recently proven to be a distinct species. I have read that the mature Ophthalmica caterpillar has a blue horn while Cerisyi is usually pink, but I don't know if this is true or how reliable this identification method is. My caterpillar had a blue horn in its last instar, shown below, so I assume for now that it is S. ophthalmica?
Any insight or answer to any of these questions is appreciated.
