Silkmoths and more: Smerinthus jamaicensis

Oh no ... the green worms have returned! Yep, another Smerinthus, this time one of the North American members and one that is as boring as its Eurasian cousins of whom many already have been depicted on this blog. If your life is really that empty you could spend an afternoon comparing the caterpillars of all those species. And then you can say wow wow that green is not just green, it's more blueish green. The most depressing part of that is that you would even be wrong about this difference in color. The larvae of most of these species have a blueish green and a brighter green color form (same for jamaicensis). So no need to get excited over that. There simply is nothing to get excited about at all when dealing with a Smerinthus ... period. Nope the rearing isn't exciting either. It's child's play. Feed them Salix (or Populus), keep the leaves fresh and the container somewhat clean. Not too warm, not too cold. Plastic container or netted cage, it doesn't matter. The only good news about Smerinthus caterpillars is that they grow fast and pupate within four weeks. That way you don't have to look at them for too long or get so bored with them that you feed them one by one to your Oscar fish. At least the fish would be happy that you're rearing them ...