Sphinx Caterpillar
ktuli — Thu, 09/08/2011 - 18:40
I am not 100% certain on the species of this caterpillar, but I am pretty sure it is in the Ceratomia family. This is a group of sphinx hawkmoths.
The species I am leaning towards most with this individual is the Waved Sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa).
This is the moth of Silence of the Lambs fame.
My doubt on the identification comes from the lack of the white stripe on the face of the caterpillar, and the reddish color to the tail spike/horn. But everything else is spot on and I haven't been able to find another species that would fit better.
Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/100 sec at f/8. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.
I probably should have went for more depth of field with a smaller aperture, but I was trying to also keep the background from being pitch black (though even that didn't work out so well). As a result, the head of the caterpillar is in clarity while the tail starts to blur out a bit.
I have a couple other angles to share eventually, but while you'd probably expect a caterpillar to be an easy subject to work with, it was actually very difficult to get it to move into good positions, and to stay still once there. As with all caterpillars, they only have six true legs (seen here colored white) and the rest are merely fleshy apendages that have sticky pads on the end of them - making them very difficult to detach unless they want to.
A challenging, yet very cool subject.
- Bill
Hi Bill,
Great shot of a beautiful beastie :)
Although it's always impossible to be 100% sure of ID's from photos, I'd say you're right to call it a Waved Sphinx. The larvae show considerable variations, and, alternatively, yours may also be due to it being in an earlier instar:
http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/cundulos.htm
and although many don't; some have a red tail too :)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/214518
But what it was feeding on may also be a clue. Ceratomia undulosa prefer ash, but will also take to privet and lilac, according to the top one of those links.
I understand your problems with keeping all of a caterpillar in focus. I've never managed it, especially as I'm stubbornly sticking with natural light ;) However, I've heard that if you want to avoid a black background you can just drape a light-coloured cloth, or something similar behind your subject. Not possible for the more flighty subjects, but definitely worth trying with caterpillars :)
And yes. They won't stop moving because they won't stop eating! Reminds me of a book my daughter used to love: 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' :)
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