hawkmoths and birds

[Roger C. KENDRICK]

Andrea Hoffmann wrote:

> hi folks,
>
> jurong bird park called up a guy from nature society singapore and asked a
> few questions concerning a hawkmoth explosion on their cape jasmine
> treelets in the enclosures. basically they were wondering if the birds
> would die from eating the caterpillars. (i don't have details on what kind
> of hawkmoths they encountered)
>
> i haven't found anything in my moth books. is there anybody who could shed
> some light on that?

Hi Andrea,

Most of the hawkmoths whose larval foodplants have been identified in Hong Kong
would not be toxic. As Hong Kong shares quite a few sphingids with Singapore, I
guess the only thing that would kill the birds would be death by gluttony or
choking!

If JBP can provide a photo (by e-mail or on a website) of the larvar concerned,
I *may* be able to be more preciese.

regards,

Roger.
________________________________________________
Roger C. KENDRICK   B.Sc.(Hons.)
PhD student & Demonstrator, Dept of Ecology & Biodiversity
The University of Hong Kong
mailto:kendrick at hkusua.hku.hk
http://web.hku.hk/~kendrick/hkmoth.htm   « Hong Kong Moths »
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/1085/   « H.K. Lepidoptera Group »
mail: Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre
      The University of Hong Kong
      Lam Kam Road, Shek Kong,
      Yuen Long, New Territories
      Hong Kong
fax: (852) 24885285
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