2-21-2014
Plumeria common name
‘Frangipani’ is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family,
Apocynaceae. It contains seven or eight
species of mainly deciduous shrubs and small trees. This particular flower here in Trinidad is
home of the Pseudosphinx tetrio, a large moth of black and vibrant yellow
color. The moth or Pseudosphinx Tetrio
is a species in the Sphingidae family.
Other names for the moth are tetrio sphinx, giant gray sphinx,
frangipani hornworm, and plumeria caterpillar. The Frangipani tree is so infested by this
worm that it is has been nicknamed “the wormy tree”.
Each of the different
species of Plumeria bears differently shaped, alternate leaves with distinct
form and growth habits. The Plumeria
flowers are most fragrant at night luring the sphinx moths to pollinate
them. The flowers have no nectar and
simply dupe their pollinators. The moths
inadvertently pollinate them by transferring pollen from flower to flower in
their fruitless search for nectar. The
caterpillars feed on the plant, detoxifying the poisonous latex present in most
Apocynaceae. It pupates in the leaf
litter or under the soil. The adult
feeds on nectar. The consumption of
toxic plants makes this caterpillar very distasteful to predators.
When the tree is laden
with caterpillars it’s quite a sight to behold.
Today instead I was able to capture the Plumeria flowers of the tree,
instead of the notorious Pseudosphinx Tetrio Caterpillar.
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