I found a very rare specie (at least from my knowledge of species and research) today in a money plant (Epipremnum plant) in my kitchen garden. This caterpillar was on it. Please help me with the name of this species and any information about it.
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1$\begingroup$ Can you add size and location? $\endgroup$– have funOct 8, 2017 at 13:47
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1 Answer
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The caterpillar in question is a kind of hawk moth caterpillar, most easily noticed by the pair of "eyes" on the thorax. From my experience with hawk moth caterpillars though, they generally have multiple sets of eyes, and so, this one was somewhat difficult for me to ID (not to mention a location has yet to be provided).
Looking at the OP, other defining features include: unique pattern on thorax; repeating triangular pattern on dorsal; a single tail; stripe along each side of the abdomen; overall coloration.
That being said, I believe this caterpillar is of the genus Eupanacra, and is most likely of the species E. elegantulus.
Such well defined patterns on the OP suggests full maturity. Consider the following instar sequence, and notice how the emergent patterns converge to the OPs.
After undergoing pupation, the caterpillar will transform into the following:
And then, here's a distribution map.
