Photo by Aimee Thomas, Gasparee, Trinidad, November 2011.

Photo by Shannon Fortenberry, Gasparee, Trinidad, November 2011.

Photo by Shannon Fortenberry, Gasparee, Trinidad, November 2011.

This is the caterpillar of the non-distinct Frangipani Sphinx Moth.  It specializes on feeding on the frangipani plant (Plumeria rubra).  It is a wide-spread species in the Neotropics.

As in many brightly colored animals, it has many toxic qualities.  Jan Meerman, Green Hills Butterfly Ranch and Botanical Collections near Georgeville, Belize, has observed Squirrel Cuckoos eating these caterpillars.  They slam them against a limb until the poisonous guts fly out, then they eat the remains.

Where ever there is a toxic animal, there is a predator that has figured out how to eat them!