Frangipani caterpillar - and yes, they're poisonous.

Frangipani Caterpillar, also called tetrio sphinx hornworm or rasta caterpillar.

When looking at this caterpillar, what's the first thing you think about?  Probably its unusual colour, which often acts as a warning sign.  It signals DANGER, meaning that you risk possible death should you mess with it.  Sometimes colours are used as a faint, a ruse, a trick - where no danger really exists, but even the thought may prevent an attack.  That's not the case here.  The danger is real.  You can, however, pick them up.  Large ones are longer and bigger around than your middle finger (click here for image).  Impressive.

The caterpillars can grow very large, and they are voracious.  They feed on members of the dogbane family, poisonous plants that carry the same poisons as found in milkweed plants - cardiac glycosides.  These are highly poisonous to many vertebrates and may cause death or severe illness.  There is an exception to this, though.  A bird, the smooth-billed ani (click here for more info), tears the caterpillar apart and avoids the gut, preventing exposure to any undigested dogbane in the caterpillar's organs.

The adult, a large brown moth, is an important pollinator.  To see one, click here.  They are almost 6 inches from wingtip to wingtip.  They range over much of the Caribbean, southern Florida, and parts of Texas and Louisiana.  I found and photographed this one on the island of Dominica.  I didn't touch it at the time as I was concerned that it might be poisonous.  The truth is, I could have picked it up,  Chewing on in, though, would have been a problem.  I don't think there was ever a risk of that.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com