(erroneously: Chaerocampa eras)
MACROGLOSSINAE , SPHINGIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
brown form
(Photo: courtesy of Susan Foyle, Sutherland)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
brown form
(Photo: courtesy of Susan Foyle, Sutherland)
The Caterpillar of this species can be brown with a dark line along each side, or green with a red line along each side.
The line is interrupted by a series of eyespots of varying sizes: large at each end tapering to smaller in the middle. The claspers are black. It also has on the tail a brown curved horn ending in a black point which is strongly curved backwards nearly into a semicircle.
It feeds on a wide variety of plants, including the crops :
as well as :
The caterpillar pupates in the soil. The pupa is brown with a series of black spots along each side of the abdomen.
The adults have brown fore wings with a faint pattern of light and dark markings, and bright yellow hind wings with dark margins. The moths have a wingspan of about 7 cms.
The eggs are green and spherical. They are laid singly on foodplant foliage.
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The species is found as various subspecies
from India across to the south Pacific, including:
and the subspecies eras occurs in: in Australia.
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Peter Marriott,
Buck Richardson,
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
|  Fiji, 2001
|
 caterpillar |
 butterflies |
 caterpillars |
 moths |
 caterpillar |
(updated 1 March 2010)
