Sphingid ID?

Sun Aug 26 11:08:49 EDT 2001

As with many species, some variation in larval (or adult) coloration is 
quite normal.  A little less yellow would seem to easily fit this variation.
We also have to remember that this larva was heavily parastized and looks
quite sick in the photo so this can affect color as well.  Gardenia is not a
host I have taken rustica on in the past but this species is recorded from
several plants so it would not be all that surprising.  Given its huge range
(USA through S. America) I'm sure we will find a number of new host records
for this one as time passes.

Chris

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From: Pierre A Plauzoles <sphinxangelorum at bigfoot.com>
To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: Sphingid ID?
Date: Sat, Aug 25, 2001, 10:30 PM

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PuerNux at aol.com wrote:

> I finally got some pictures of a sphingid found on our Gardenia in East TN.
> Here is a link to them. Any help w/ID would be greatly appreciated.
> http://www.geocities.com/puernux/index.html
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> -Eric Hossler

Hello.

You say, in your web page blurb:

> Unknown Caterpillar taken about Aug 15th on a potted Gardenia in Johnson City,
TN (elev 1700'). The larvae produced
> 50+ braconid wasps within a day of capture, hence all the black spotting near
the head and on the abdomen. My best guess
> was Manduca rustica, but I cannot ID with certainty.
>
I would appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to correct me if I am
full of it, but it is my opinion that Manduca rustica usually has more
yellow
above the diagonal lines -- I can't even see any at all in your picture --
and
the diagonal lines themselves are considerably wider and quite fuzzy on
their
dorsal edges.  Are these features part of the species' variability?  Keep in
mind here that I have only seen this species in illustrations, never "in the
flesh" at all.  Gardenia is also a red flag for me, but then it could be
that I
just don't know that species well enough.

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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
PuerNux at aol.com wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>I finally got some pictures of a sphingid found on
our Gardenia in East TN.
 Here is a link to them. Any help w/ID would be greatly appreciated.
 <a
href="http://www.geocities.com/puernux/index.html">http://www.geocities.com/
puernux/index.html</a>
Thanks in advance.
-Eric Hossler</blockquote>
Hello.
You say, in your web page blurb:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>
<pre>Unknown Caterpillar taken about Aug 15th on a potted Gardenia in
Johnson City, TN (elev 1700'). The larvae produced&nbsp;
50+ braconid wasps within a day of capture, hence all the black spotting
near the head and on the abdomen. My best guess&nbsp;
was Manduca rustica, but I cannot ID with certainty.</pre>
</blockquote>

<p>I would appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to correct me
if I am full of it, but it is my opinion that Manduca rustica usually has
more yellow above the diagonal lines -- I can't even see any at all in
your picture -- and the diagonal lines themselves are considerably wider
and quite fuzzy on their dorsal edges.&nbsp; Are these features part of
the species' variability?&nbsp; Keep in mind here that I have only seen
this species in illustrations, never "in the flesh" at all.&nbsp; Gardenia
is also a red flag for me, but then it could be that I just don't know
that species well enough.</html>

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