Char-lee, we need to see a picture.

Wow! I found it!

Great pic char-lee! Looks like a Sphinx moth, Sphinx chersis, perhaps.

tj

Thx for the answer TJ, Is that thing good or bad?....it is huge, bizarre and beautiful but I love my plant so if it is expendable my pups and I might give it a little raft to cling to and a couple of Brunfelsia leaves and set sail to it in the canal out back. the pic was from my phone...I just lucked out :) I wonder how that thing even got on my plant?

Mind you, the id is tentative, but one thing is for sure...it's a hornworm and they have voracious appetites. I usually put them on a plant they can't devour by themselves, something like a viburnum or larger shrub, but that's me. A trip in the canal would feed the fish, which may be fun to watch, some like to feed the birds with them, others, like myself like seeing the moths.

tj

See why we need pictures? When you said large round balls, that's what I figured you meant, lol.

I believe that your caterpillar is the common Tobacco Hornworm. Don't forget.....this plant is in the Solanaceae family, right along with all of the other host plants of this particular hornworm.

The caterpillar got there because that's where the lovely moth laid her eggs. Many moths and butterflies are host specific, choosing plants within the same family on which to raise the next generation.

Tobacco and tomato hornworms can be found on many members of the Solanaceae family.

This almost flourescent creature was too awesome to kill so I walked it down the block and put it in an Oleander bush. Hope I am not sorry in the long run.

It won't feed on oleander. Hopefully, something will come along and make a nice lunch out of it. I feed mine to the cardinals and robins that follow me around in the veggie garden.

Awww, I thought since it was obviously thriving so well on a poisonous plant, I would just put it on another one. Do you know if a small dog eats one of those....will it hurt it? (the dog) :)

No, they aren't toxic to animals. I've watched squirrels eat them with relish.......not with pickle relish...but with total lip-smacking enjoyment. :-)