Ophthalm Sphinx Caterpillar Pupated

​Our Ophthalm Sphinx (Smerinthus ophthalmica) caterpillar pupated today. It was originally found as an egg mistakenly laid by the moth on Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) growing under a willow tree (Salix), the intended host, at the Eastside Permaculture Garden (Albany, CA) and has been reared indoors on willow cuttings.

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This afternoon, the Ophthalm Sphinx prepupa had become a dirty pale yellow with brown spot, and the caterpillar cuticle was very loose. By around 4:00 PM, we caught it right in act of pupating so we recorded and photographed the process. The prepupa stage lasted approximately 4 days from 7/29-8/2.

Video of pupation (4x speed):

Photo of ventral, lateral, and dorsal views and gonophore with time labeled:

Ventral view:

Lateral view:

Dorsal view:

The teneral pupa is very soft and green except for the dorsal side of the abdomen that was already a light brown. After a few hours, the pupa quickly tanned and turned brown, first on the abdomen and thorax, and eventually the wings as well. A few more hours later, and the brown darked to shiny black, and the cuticle became hard and smooth. 

Now that the Ophthalm Sphinx is a pupa, we should be able to sex it based on the genital pores at the tip of the ventral side of the abdomen, shown below. 

Yet, frustratingly, after studying it for quite awhile and comparing to images online, we were confused if we had a male or female, and since we only have one pupa, we have no others to compare to. The gonophore (genital opening) is located entirely on the fourth segment after the wing covered segments which would be indicative of a female, whose gonophore is usually either split between the fourth or fifth segment or only on the fourth segment. However, the shape of the gonophore is more male-like, because it is in a kidney shaped bump. For now, we will assume it is female because the location of the gonophore is a more reliable sex indicator than the appearance, because the shape varies greatly between species anyways. 

- Alan