Found it!! I first thought it was a Tersa Moth, but the wing tips are plain on them. Went searching and found it is a Fig Sphinx Moth (Pachylia ficus). Nice pictures.
Name: Melissa E. Keyes St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Zone 11+
Billy, the red spot is 'bone' where the fuzz was scrubbed off the poor guy.
Sheila, thanks! We don't have figs here that I know of, too hot. But the new Home Depot has some imported figs, so maybe that's where the moth came from.
Do you mean that brown caterpillar? I just went through a caterpillar identification site and found out it is a Achemon sphinx. The site even said that grapes were preferred food for the caterpillar. I haven't seen the adults around, but there were quite a few of these on my grape. I just let the caterpillars be since they couldn't do much damage to that grape.
Sometimes I think the less brightly colored but highly marked wings are just as pretty as the opposite - in the case of the Achemon sphinx, I think it's spectacular, just in a very low-key sort of way.
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. E. B.White
Integrity can never be taken. It can only be given, and I wasn't going to give it up to these people. Gary Mowad
Hehe! :rofl:
But it's about time we got some warm temps in the daytime and a break from drizzle!
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. E. B.White
Integrity can never be taken. It can only be given, and I wasn't going to give it up to these people. Gary Mowad
