I’ll be leaving soon for another trip to Argentina. While the process of traveling to the Land of Gauchos (and back) is exhausting, I adore Argentina and look forward to my visits there with great anticipation. In celebration of my pending return, I’m starting off a new BitB Challenge Session (#5) with a traditional ID challenge—for 2 pts each can you identify the order (a gimme), family, genus, and species of the critter in the photo below? Say something about the situation for the possibility of bonus points. Standard challenge rules apply, including moderated comments during the challenge period (you don’t have to be first to score points), early-bird points to those who do arrive at the correct answer before others, etc.
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
Beetles In The Bush 
Lepidoptera, I believe it’s a geometrid moth caterpillar. The lack of prolegs in the middle and the arching fashion of movement is the clue to what it is (I think!)
Lepidoptera = 2 pts. Geometrids have one less pair of prolegs.
Lepidoptera
Noctuidae
Pseudoplusia includens
late-stage larva of soybean looper
Thoughts: Larvae are pests of soybeans, this one appears to be on the bottom side of soybean leaflet. Thoracic legs are typically black, but a recent study suggests that this may be influenced by population density. Monsanto is possibly developing a Bt-traited soybean to combat the insect.
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae = 4 pts. Since Noctuidae is the most specific that anybody correctly guessed, I’m giving early-bird bonus points for each person who guessed this after you did – you get 8 early-bird points. Total = 12 pts.
No secret – Monsanto’s Bt-traited soybean was recently approved for planting in Brazil.
Oh, the systematics apparently have transferred this to a “new” genus, so the species should be Chrysodeixis includens.
Creepy but amazing shot of an ugly caterpillar. Sorry… but that’s all I know to call this thing. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about entomology. Bon Voyage. 🙂
You do get a bonus point for saying the photo was amazing. However, you also get a -1 point deduction for saying the caterpillar is “ugly” (just kidding ;)).
At first I though this was some sort of Geometrid moth caterpillar, but all the photos I found showed only two pairs of prolegs. I did some more searching, and finally came across the soybean looper, a caterpillar that not only has the right number of prolegs, but looks like your caterpillar too. So I’ll say Order–Lepidoptera, Family–Noctuidae, Genus–Pseudoplusia, Species–includens.
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae = 4 pts plus 7 early-bird bonus points. Total = 11 pts.
At 3:00 in the morning with an awfully sparse LaTeX document in front of me I don’t have much entertaining backstory in me unfortunately. I will however venture a guess that this critter is a looper moth of some kind, maybe Lepidoptera Noctuidae Chrysodeixis includens.
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae = 4 pts, plus 6 early-bird bonus points. Total = 10 pts.
Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Autographa californica (Alfalfa Looper). The presence of prolegs on segments five and six place it in the loopers, and the lack of small nipples (vestigial legs) on segments three and four point to this common pest species. Its hard to be certain, but it appears to be perched on a squash leaf (or some other Cucurbitae). Note the typical “looping” method of getting around.
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae = 4 pts, plus 5 early-bird bonus points. Total = 9 pts.
OK, order is obviously Lepidoptera.
Since it is looping, I was originally thinking the family was Geometridae, but it looks like it has too many prolegs – the geometrid caterpillars I’m seeing only have two pairs of prolegs, and this one has three pairs.
So, I’ll go with one of the looping Owlet Moth caterpillars (family Noctuidae). Specifically the subfamily Plusiinae. Unfortunately, I’m not having much luck beyond that – I’m not seeing any on BugGuide with that mottled brown head and those black true legs. Of course, the prominent mention of your upcoming trip to Argentina pretty strongly suggests that this is an Argentinian caterpillar, in which case BugGuide isn’t going to be much help anyway, is it?
Ah, what the heck, I’ll go with the closest thing I’ve seen personally[1]: the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni. Maybe it has that much color variation by the time it gets to Argentina.
—–
[1] Although, the (probable) cabbage looper I’ve seen personally wasn’t at its best: It was infested by about a thousand parasitic wasps.
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae earns 4 pts, and you also get 4 early-bird bonus pts. Total = 8 pts.
Wait, wait, strike that last guess, I found a better candidate[1]! It looks like a Soybean looper[2], Pseudoplusia includens (although I see that BugGuide says the name has been changed to Chrysodeixis includens). The Wikipedia picture, at least, has the black legs, bristles, white stripes, black dots, and the right number of legs.
——
[1] It came up when I was searching for images that combined “Trichoplusia” and “Argentina”.
[2] Which, if nothing else, goes better with your known proclivities for soybeans.
Still not right, but a more appropriate choice for soybean than cabbage looper.
I also found a page (written in spanish) where a very agitated person had similar caterpillars that were eating their marijuana plants (a commenter said they were “Plusia”), but I don’t think that those are it.
Incidentally, here’s the guy who had the infestation on his marijuana::
http://www.cannabiscafe.net/foros/showthread.php/211056-oruga-plusia-INFORMACION-URGENTE!!!!
I don’t think those caterpillars are Spodoptera exigua, which almost always has a prominent black spot above the 2nd pair of true legs. The paired black tubercles on the abdominal segments suggest the species is either Helicoverpa zea or Heliothis virescens – both of which are highly polyphagous. Hippy bollworms!
I just descovered the wonderful world of blogs, so I don’t have an account here yet (I’m homopteran on tumblr if that counts) – but my gut (based on no key features) says this is a Pinion of some sort? so:
order:Lepidoptera, subfamily:Hadeninae, tribe:Xylenini common name:pinion??
don’t even know where to start on species. ..
(I just realized I can sign in from facebook – hope that counts for something, I just want to comment while I’m thinking about it!)
Lepidoptera = 2 pts. You got more in your second guess below.
My guess:
Arthropoda-Insecta-Lepidoptera-Geometriidae
🙂
Lepidoptera = 2 pts. Geometridae have one less pair of prolegs.
I’ll say soybean looper (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae:Pseudoplusia includens). Looks like it is feeding on soybean leaf.
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae is worth 4 pts, plus 3 early-bird bonus pts. Total = 7 pts.
I’ll take whatever I can get. Lepidoptera.
Visited Argentina in ’79, but wasn’t interested in bugs then. Would love to go back to Patagonia, but don’t know if the statute of limitations has expired yet.
I’d love to know what law Argentina could possibly have that makes it safer to live elsewhere 😀
Lepidoptera = 2 pts.
Chrysodeixis includens
Hi Roxanne – as a newbie you probably aren’t aware that I only give half points for “implied” taxa. Since your guess of C. includens is in the correct order (Lepidoptera) and family (Nocutidae), you get half-credit for the 4 pts available there. Sorry, but them’s the rules! 😉
You do get 2 early-bird bonus points. Total = 4 pts.
This appears to be a soybean looper living up to its name. If I’m not mistaken, that is a soybean leaf.
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Pseudoplusia
Species: includens
Lepidoptera/Noctuidae = 4 pts, plus one early-bird bonus point. Total = 5 pts.
Having missed the last round, I better get in early on this one.
I’ll take the gimme for order Lepidoptera and I’ll presume that pose is a geometrid fling it’s forelimbs forward (the lack of prolegs on all but the last sections being a marker of this group, but also, I think, a few noctuids?)
And then I give up, there are too many thousands of species for me come up with one from either Missouri or Argentina!
I’ll give you one point for tentatively suggesting noctuid as a possibility, combined with 2 pts for Lepidoptera. Total = 3 pts.
Crap. Hope there are second tries allowed – actually looking at this it’s most definitely not a pinion (not enough prolegs)!
My second guess is:
Order: Lepidoptera Family:Noctuidae subfamily:plusiinae
species. . .psuedoplusia includens?
Second guesses are allowed (since comments are moderated), and “Noctuidae” in your second guess nets you an additional 2 pts. Total = 4 pts.
Addendum to my earlier response, and hope for “pity points”:
It’s a sad day when I visit this site and find that it’s become “Butterflies and/or Moths in the Bush”, especially after I spent $250 on both volumes of Arnett.
You’ll note that the first 7 months of this blog’s existence didn’t see a single beetle photograph. Since then I’ve regularly featured a diversity of insect groups. The title of my blog may be quite specific, but my interests are anything but 🙂