Butterfly/Moth ID

[nimbulan]

And to make it hard...they hatched today!

Pictures taken in the area of Portland, Oregon. The eggs were found on the leaves and stem of a goji berry plant (Lycium barbarum) and hatched 5 days after discovery.

 

[curtisconners]

I'd say that it's impossible to tell at this point.

 

[Not a Number]

Well, maybe not impossible but very difficult except for a trained entomologist. ID could depend on minutiae such as the number of hairs on the rear-end.

 

[nimbulan]

Yeah I'm not really expecting anyone to be able to identify these little guys. I wonder how long it'll be until they start showing mature appearance.

 

[curtisconners]

I say put the plant, with the caterpillars on it, in a jar and keep us updated. This could be interesting.

 

[nimbulan]

The plant is definitely far too large to fit in a jar, even if it wasn't planted in the ground. The critters haven't moved very far yet and seem content to chew on the few leaves nearby so I'm not concerned about losing track of them at the moment.

 

[curtisconners]

Maybe you could put a few caterpillars in a jar and continuously put in leaves from that type of plant. Just a thought.