Xylophanes chiron Drury 1771
The first and second instars of this species are green, changing to wither purple or aqua-blue at the third instar.
Prepual larvae of this species change to a brown color and develop a scaled pattern, while their thoracic "eyespots" become brown with a black interior. These pre-pupal larvae appear "snake-like".
When not feeding, early instars (1-2) hide in the terminal leaflets of the host plant. Later instars (3-5) hide at the base of the host plant or under a branch.
Collected in Heredia Province, Costa Rica (La Selva).
Collected in Sucumbios Province, Ecuador (Cascada de san Rafeal, 960 m) and Napo Province, Ecuador (Ahuano Forest 470 m).
Rubiaceae: Psychotria chiapensis, Psychotria sp., Psychotria eurycarpa, Aegiphila falcata, Hamelia patens, Palicouraeae sp.
Costa Rica:
Phoridae: Unknown sp. (N=1).
Tachinidae: Belvosia sp. (N=1), Drino sp. (N=1), Hyphantrophaga sp. (N=2), Unknown spp. (N=4).
Braconidae: Cotesia sp. (N=2). In both cases the larvae collapsed, failing to hold onto a substrate, and died at the 4th instar. In one of these cases, the larvae was parasitized by both Cotesia, and Unknown Tachinidae species. Both tachinids and Cotesia, emerged from the deceased larvae, however, only tachinids survived.
Ecuador:
Braconidae: Meteorus sp. (N=1). More than 50 individuals emerged for their caterpillar host.
Ichneumonidae: Unknown sp. (N=1).
This information is based an ongoing project dedicated to the inventory and dissemination of information on lepidopteran larvae, their host plants, and their parasitoids in a Costa Rican tropical wet forest and an Ecuadorian montane cloud forest.
Costa Rica:
N=24 rearings as of 2012, 2 eclosed, 11 were parasitized and 11 died.
Ecuador:
N=3 rearings as of 2012, 2 were parasitized and 1 died.