Hawk Moth Caterpillar Dying?

[kokobe03]

I live in Thailand and this seems to be the only place where I can ask an expert on what is going on with the hawk moth caterpillar that I found. My wife discovered the caterpillar on one of our plants outside and brought the plant inside in order to watch the caterpillar go through its life stages. Well, we woke up this morning only to find that the caterpillar had turned from brown to orange and is now shriveling up on the plant. It has this long dark green gooey substance hanging out of the middle of its body. The substance is about the length of its body. It's body appears to be shriveling up some. The caterpillar is in one place but moves it's head periodically. What is going on with the caterpillar? Is it dying?

[aeshna5]

It certainly is dying. It sounds to me as though it has been parasitised.