Caterpillars - Insect Ecology and Behavior Lab

Manduca sexta

Tobacco hornwom
Food plants: tobacco, tomato, other Solanaceae
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - MsT complex

Ceratomia catalpae

Catalpa sphinx
Food plant: catalpa
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - CcC complex

Eumorpha pandorus

Pandorus sphinx
Food plants: grape and Virginia creeper
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - EpV complex
Note: This species can be green, red, brown, or yellow

Darapsa myron

Hog nose sphinx
Food plants: grape and Virginia creeper
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - DmV complex

Sphinx kalmiae

Laurel sphinx
Food plants: commonly privet, other Oleaceae
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - SkP complex

Dolba hyloeus

Pawpaw sphinx
Food plants: pawpaw, deciduous holly
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - DhP complex

Hemaris diffinis

Snowberry clearwing
Food plants: usually honeysuckle, but this one is feeding on a different plant
Parasitoid: Cotesia congregata - reported but not found by us. Most of these caterpillars have been parasitized by the tachinid fly, Belvosia.

There are other sphingids we are searching for. . .

There are several other hosts of Cotesia congregata that we are searching for but have not yet found parasitized ones locally. Primary targets are the larvae of Agrius cingulata and Lapara coniferarum.

Other caterpillars we have collected for parasitoids

We collect caterpillars in the hope that they are parasitized by a species of Cotesia. Please contact us if you find caterpillars with small cocoons hanging off of them or around them. There are hundreds of species of Cotesia, and we trying to find as many as we can!