#Animals: Tetrio Sphinx
When you move in, it is common to see new things, trees or animals that you may have never seen. This was the case one morning when I was heading to the university and I found a colorful caterpillar on the door.
Even in my basic knowledge of biology I knew that their bright colors were a warning sign, a rather peculiar way that some animals and plants have to say "If you eat me, you will be very bad". This is called aposematism.
This small insect is called Tetrio Sphinx and is a tropical species that lives from Brazil to the south of the United States. In its caterpillar stage it is black, it has yellow stripes with legs and an orange head, it can measure 15 cm or more in length while in its moth phase it has shades ranging from gray to brown and can be 12 to 14 cm in wingspan.
Taxonomy:
•Kingdom: Animalia.
• Phylum: Arthropoda.
• Class: Insecta.
• Order: Lepidoptera (Includes butterflies and moths with colored scales).
• Family: Sphingidae (Robust moths with narrow and pointed wings).
• Genus: Pseudosphinx.
• Species: Tetrio.
It is also called Plumeria Caterpillar due to the type of plants that prefer to eat (Poppies), also called "caterpillar gluttony" since they can defoliate a plant in a matter of a few days but usually do not kill the plant. They can be controlled just by taking them out of the plant.
This was all for today, be attentive to the colors that surround you and see you in another post. Regards!
Cuando te mudas es común ver cosas nuevas, árboles o animales que quizás nunca habías visto. Este fue el caso una mañana en que me dirigía a la universidad y encuentro una colorida oruga en la puerta.
Aún en mis básicos conocimientos de biología supe que sus colores brillantes eran una señal de alerta, una forma bastante peculiar que tienen algunos animales y plantas para decir “Si me comes te irá muy mal”. Esto es llamado aposematísmo.
Este pequeño insecto se llama Esfinge de Tetrio y es una especie tropical que habita desde Brasil hasta el sur de los Estados Unidos. En su fase de oruga es negra, tiene rayas amarillas con patas y cabeza naranja, puede medir 15 cm o más de longitud mientras que en su fase de polilla posee tonos que van del gris al café y puede tener de 12 a 14 cm de envergadura.
Taxonomía:
• Reino: Animalia.
• Phylum: Arthropoda.
• Clase: Insecta.
• Orden: Lepidoptera (Incluye mariposas y polillas con escamas coloreadas).
• Familia: Sphingidae (Polillas robustas con alas estrechas y en punta).
• Género: Pseudosphinx.
• Especie: Tetrio.
También es llamada Oruga Plumeria debido al género de plantas que prefiere comer (Amapolas), también le dicen “oruga glotona” puesto que pueden defoliar una planta en cuestión de algunos días pero por lo general no matan a la planta. Se pueden controlar con solo sacarlas de la planta.
Esto fue todo por hoy, estén atentos a los colores que los rodean y nos vemos en otro post. Saludos!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by omg-is-biology from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.