KABT folks
We had a great time at the KABT Fall meeting at Cowley County College.
Thanks to Michelle, the presenters and others. During the field trip out at Chaplin Nature center a group of us came across large numbers of caterpillars defoliating catalpa saplings. The trees themselves were difficult to identify (since they were defoliated and small saplings) and we weren't sure about the caterpillars. I guessed that they were some sort of horn worm---well guesses sometimes workout. We apparently had found the dark form of the Catalpa sphinx (hormworms). Here's a link that includes images.
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins/catalpasphinx/catalpasphinx.htm
or
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg305.html
or
http://entomology.unl.edu/ornamentals/pestprofiles/catsphinx.htm
Ours matches the dark form in the bottom of this image:
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins/catalpasphinx/photo6.htm
or in this image:
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins/catalpasphinx/photo2.htm
BW