Query from off list.

[Joe Kunkel]

This query was received by Joe Kunkel from Lzroemer at cs.com off list. 
Are there any cheese-heads who know this caterpillar?

I found a Sphinx moth caterpillar the other day ... a mile or two from
my home in Sherwood, which is in east-central Wisconsin.

I can't seem to correlate the species to anything in my books. Can you
get me help?

The distinguishing features that I haven't been able to find in my books 
(besides the "tail-horn", having the diagonal stripes on the sides,
being
a dirty green color with a purpleish-tinged back, and being about 3
inches
in length) are 2 pair of "horns" just behind the head, and a tiny ridge
of 
serrated protrusions down the top of the back - giving it somewhat the 
look of a little Iguana.

When introduced into a jar with about 4" of loose dirt/sand/debris, it 
immediately burrowed down through the soil to the bottom of the jar.
-- 
--------------------
Joseph G. Kunkel, Professor
Biology Department             joe at bio.umass.edu
University of Massachusetts    http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel
Amherst MA 01003