White lined hawk moth caterpillar

Caterpillar of the white lined hawk (sphynx) moth.

The white lined hawk moth is modestly common over much of North America.  I have found the adults in BC, Washington, Arizona, and Alberta.  I have only ever seen the caterpillar in Arizona though.  When mature the caterpillars are well over two inches long; they are voracious feeders and feed on quite a variety of plants.  In some situations they may become pests.

I shot this with my 80-400 mm zoom lens; it is not particularly great at focusing closely but with the large size of the caterpillar and the cropping which was done using Photoshop I ended up with an acceptable image.  I also like the fact it is nicely framed by its browsing material and how the in-focus head trails off to a mildly out-of-focus body.  The camera I was using at the time was a Nikon D7100; its 24 megapixel sensor allowed the retention of significant details when the image was cropped. 

I caught an adult in my back yard a few years ago.  It was dusk and the honeysuckle was in full bloom.  A specter of sorts hovered in front of one of the flowers; the dim light made it difficult to determine exactly what it was.  It was smaller than a hummingbird but flew similar to one.  I approached it from behind and managed to snare it with my cupped hands.  I took photos of it the next day and released it afterward.

I read an interesting account of the caterpillars being a food source for certain southwestern indigenous people.  The large larvae were harvested, their heads and internal organs removed, and the bodies roasted over an open flame.  Leftovers were either ground up or stored whole for later consumption.  I recognize that eating insects has its roots in many societies, and may be in our own future as rearing meat is very expensive and will eventually be unsustainable.  For the moment I will continue to enjoy my beef, chicken, and pork.

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