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Xylophanes tersa tersa
 
Tersa Sphinx Moth in on e of several stages, munching happily on my Pentas
 
And a cute little pointy tail!
 
Note the "eyes" to scare off predators ...and the little pointy tail!
 
When I grow up I wanna be....
 
What a cute face! It retracts the head when threatened to puff up and make the "eyes" more prominent.
 
A diiferent (they are many) species of Hummingbird moths! Credit to Wikipedia for this one. (All other photos by Debra O'Hearn)
 
LIKE THIS! I will rest all day, and feed at dusk on flower nectar (thanks Wikipedia)

I found this caterpillar in my garden. I had never seen one like this, so I looked it up in my butterfly book.

It is a Tersa Sphinx moth in pupal stage...

It will change color several times as it grows.

This was about the size of  my 5th finger.

It is in the hummingbird moth family, as people often mistake them for hummingbirds as they feed. They are the size of a young hummingbird.

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. 

 

 

~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

 
It's larval food source is my Pentas plants...oh well!
COMMENTS
Debdog said at 4:21 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
finally! got one finished without all tabloops!!!!!!!;)
Btk76 said at 4:42 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
:) deb
ConnieL said at 4:51 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
I've never seen one of those...now I will be on the look out for them. Nice photos!!!
Andre. said at 4:52 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
I keep enjoying your "take" on life. And gorgeous images. Txs, Deb.
Pkeener said at 4:55 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Deb, thse photos are wonderful. so crisp and perfect use of light
Tishfish said at 5:03 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Love to have them around here. I am quite sure we don't have them. Wonderful shots Deb ! ! !
Tishfish said at 5:05 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Come to think of it, they do look a bit like the hummingbird moths we do have.
Swedfinn said at 5:11 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Great close ups! Almost a contact of the third degree!!
Memotions said at 5:22 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
#3 and 4. Awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Wildthing said at 5:26 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Terrific shots of an amazing creature.
Lifequest22 said at 5:57 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Most Excellent, Deb. I've seen them around a few times. Is that a Penta it's hanging on.
Saulblum said at 6:22 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Love the close-ups!
Debdog said at 6:40 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Ander, thanks, Connie, :) thanks Pam, Doreen , Jorma :)
Debdog said at 6:41 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
thanks Sister dear!!!!!!!!! :) it's a cool critter
Debdog said at 6:42 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
thanks Mike, Linda...yes, it eats Pentas! never saw anything eat my Pentas...not too much though
thanks Saul :)
Candlepower said at 7:15 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
What a cute little guy and the most unusual moth I've never seen one before. Outstanding Captures!
Moabjeeper said at 7:30 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Excellent photos and narration. Never have seem one.
DocEna said at 7:44 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Amazing shots and info..
Kristn said at 7:47 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Very cool!
Gaylet said at 7:58 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Amazing!
Lageho said at 7:58 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Fabulous photos of an animal I never see before. Nice info too.
Hhwind said at 9:00 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Great macros, lovely can't wait to see more
Rod38 said at 9:20 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Incredible shots here. Even slow moving creature on you photo, I can feel it bouncing with life. Debbie this is great.
DmitriyandYuriy said at 11:08 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
Very interesting pictures, it's great.
Debdog said at 11:24 p.m. on Aug 30, 2009:
thanks so much to all of you! and welcome to the new people who visited! thanks! :)
Noe said at 1:46 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
Cool shots Deb!! and very interesting tabblo too :o)
Chilla said at 2:24 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
What a wonderful little creature! The hawk moths are a particularly interesting goup of moths. You captured this so well!
Welshchick said at 2:45 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
I think I said this before but PLEEEEEZE send some of your hummingbird moths to Portland...They are the cutest little guys!!!
Erich said at 3:13 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
What a strange, wonderful creature....and most perfect shots!!
Shenresi said at 5:50 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
they are absolute great and beautyful and it`s also the first time for me, that I saw this one. Gratulation to that excellent Fotos, Debbie!!!
Jesusgoz said at 6:19 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
Impresionante.
Chaitiamma said at 9:15 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
Thanks for sharing !!!
Sonnia said at 9:28 a.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
great shots, wonderful tabblo!!!
Sd14 said at 12:14 p.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
Such Beauty I wish we had them over here boy you done well soooooooo lucky Nature is sooo good to you, You must have a Direct line to her :)~ Perhaps U should consentrate on makeing tabblos with nature as a theme, would be very interesting to see more butterflies/moths/and even bee,s/wasps/:)~ he could be irish he is so green, hehehehehehe,== Joe
Ira said at 1:16 p.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
Wonderful macro!Very beautiful.Unusual world of nature
NeusinhaGedoz said at 7:47 p.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
Deb, who tabblo fantastic. Girl, did not know this animal, never seen one like that. Really, really nice these pictures. Congratulations. Beautiful macros.
Fabio_DL said at 8:44 p.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
This is simply fantastic, Deb! I like the combination of your super photos with photos from Wikipedia. Thanks so much for another excellent Tabblo!
Leftofcenter said at 10:56 p.m. on Aug 31, 2009:
are those the tersa tersa's eyes staring at us??? yikes! gorgeous green crisp pics, Deb. only you can pull this of :)
Bxrgirl27 said at 10:16 a.m. on Sep 1, 2009:
These guys are cool in that they turn into the hummingbird moth - except they totally demolished all my tomato plants! One of these little dudes can eat every leaf off a healthy tomato plant overnight - I guess that's how they grow so quickly into the moth!
Bxrgirl27 said at 10:17 a.m. on Sep 1, 2009:
PS - great photos! Your close up/macro work is amazing!
HtD said at 11:21 a.m. on Sep 1, 2009:
A great set off Macro Photo's Deb.
AdSR said at 1:11 p.m. on Sep 1, 2009:
Eww, Debbie, quite honestly I'm not fond of these :)
Loes said at 6:07 p.m. on Sep 1, 2009:
Stunning macros Debbie!!
Appropos said at 1:24 p.m. on Sep 2, 2009:
wow nice set .. usually am not a fan of the creepy crawlies but this guy looks cute ..
Catmagneto0257 said at 2:39 p.m. on Sep 2, 2009:
Beautiful pictures Deb!!! I would love to see the Hummingbird moth!
Mirella said at 4:57 p.m. on Sep 2, 2009:
Strange and enchanting creature looking at you,
as green as the leaves!!!!!!!!!!!!!Beautiful macros, Deb ! Ciao
Eduardo.affonso said at 5:20 p.m. on Sep 2, 2009:
Little Tersa is soooo cute! It's much more charming in its pupal stage, I guess. And your photos are just GREAT. #3 & #4 are priceless.
Debdog said at 7:22 p.m. on Sep 2, 2009:
thanks everyone for your comments :) sorry Artur! ;);) next tab will not gross you out :) LOL
Merja-zerga said at 1:39 p.m. on Sep 4, 2009:
Superbe chenille, avec la macro, le rendu est superbe!!!
Merci Debbie.
ThierryKarine
Snooway said at 12:18 a.m. on Sep 5, 2009:
so cute, almost looks like a cartoon figure. lovely set.
Distinctivephotography said at 11:14 a.m. on Sep 5, 2009:
Great great photos! :)
Grandbrother said at 10:49 a.m. on Sep 6, 2009:
Very cool shots. That tail looks like it should wag like a dog's when the caterpillar is happy about something.
Debdog said at 11:25 a.m. on Sep 6, 2009:
thanks very much, yes it looks like the tail should wag
Babooshka said at 11:54 a.m. on Sep 6, 2009:
It almost looks like it comes out of some walt disney movie! I didn't know that nature had so cute - what do you callthem- caterpillars - I guess- to offer! He looks veryvery nice with itsbig eyes!
Gerardfotografeert said at 4:59 p.m. on Sep 8, 2009:
Another great tabblo debra. These caterpillars are very fascinating. Great macro.
Krisu said at 5:10 a.m. on Sep 18, 2009:
Awesome macros, Debbie!
Debdog said at 3:19 p.m. on Sep 22, 2009:
thanks!!!!!!
Moorlerche said at 9:42 a.m. on Oct 25, 2009:
A gorgeous crawling little leaf-devourer. I first read xylophone tersa tersa and wondered what this green multicolour-eyed joy had to do with music.

The Wikipedia picture is impressive (yours too :-). I have never heard of these kind of butterflies before and therefore thank you very much for enlightening me about this marvel.
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