Plumeria caterpillars

Not what you want to see on a rainy Sunday morning! Friends who have a beautiful Riviera Rainbow plumeria tree called me with the message that ‘there are worms on our plumeria!!’ I have a theory that the caterpillars of the Tetrio sphinx moth like this particular variety because it is still in full leaf at this time of year. This is the third time I’ve seen them on this tree. Fortunately these were still pretty small (appr. 3″ – they get up to 7″ long…) so they were fairly easily removed with a pair of tongs, although I have to say they held on for dear life! There were about 30 total.