it's a caterpillar.

_________________
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Kiss this hairy ass.......

er, yes, the query did say "apart from the obvious"...

My very limited knowledge and resources have failed to identify this beast - my best guess would be some kind of hawk moth larva. I'm trying to locate someone who can come up with a positive ID.

I thought the obvious was the twig it was on.

The caterpillar does not feature in the HK insects book, but agree with Zep, likley to be a moth caterpillar. Looks not unlike the Moon moth, Arctias selene

_________________
Say it loud, I'm a TROLL and I'm proud.

Kiss this hairy ass.......

I have asked the resident "insect man" in Sok Kwu Wan about the green monster, and he confirms that it is the caterpillar of a hawk moth, but says that there is not enough information to say which species. A bit more depth of field on the photo might have been useful.

What is a hawk moth? It's a very large moth, usually feeding on flowers around dusk. The most famous is the Death's Head Hawk moth of "Silence of the Lambs" fame. Other species of hawk moth are not uncommon in Hong Kong and (the rest of) China.

Insectman reports that many people have reported seeing "humming birds" in China. These reports almost certainly refer to hawk moths, as they flit and hover in a similar way and are similar in size.

An entomology expert from Kadoorie Farm looked at the pic and comments:

"This is either the Oleander Hawkmoth (Daphnis nerii) or it's close relative Daphnis hypothous. Do you have (or can you provide) details of the plant species upon which the caterpillar was feeding? If you can rear the caterpillar through to an adult, it is quite easy to separate the two species"

There is an article on this in the publication Porcupine! which comes out of Kadoorie farm. Those interested in the technical details can look at:

http://www.hku.hk/ecology/porcupine/por ... htm#index2

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