Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Two days ago, I found 2 tobacco hornworms on a neighbor's tomato plants. I rescued them, knowing full well they would be destroyed had she found them first. Too many people just kill these caterpillars without even realizing they are part of the balance of nature, and believe me, her long, viney, almost fruitless tomato plants NEED some pruning!
Fortunately, there was still a black nightshade plant growing nearby, so I pulled it and took it home with the caterpillars. They made fast work of the black nightshade, so now I have them on groundcherry and they are doing just fine. They make a nice attraction on the table, but the frass is still a bit of a mess.

Folks think we are nuts for caring about such "distasteful critters" as hornworms. I worked at a local Shaker Village a few summers ago as a gardener and when I was hired the manager knew about my affection for hornworms. He forewarned me about their control measure, which was to walk thru the veggie patch with scissors and cut them in half! I was sick He did make a point of letting me know when it was best for me to stay away from the veggie patch...

lele

Yes, it is too bad so many don't like having them around. All they can see is their bad side. nobody wants to listen when I tell them it is a sphinx moth that will pollinate their night blooming Daturas. Manduca hornworms feed on Datura and Brugmansia. Their moths pollinate them, gtoo. It's a balance of nature. I suggested my neighbor allow a few hornworms to live undisturbed for their benefit in pruning her tomato plants which are tall, weedy and have few fruits for all the vegetation!
While most of my findings are the tobacco sphinx, today, I was thrilled to see a female Manduca quinquemaculata resting on my bug zapper. Fortunately, most zappers do not let in large insects. This species is never as common as the M. sexta, which has the pink abdominal spots. I did not capture her as I do not know if she's gravid or not, or even fertile. I do know sphinx moths need to feed.

I also forgot that Manduca hornworms will also eat the dreaded puncturevine [goatheads]which can really make them quite beneficial to the home gardener. I found this quite by accident.....almost stepping on a large, full grown tobacco hornworm carrying out some trash one day. I just happened to see it....just in time.......feeding on what was left of a puncturevine! The prostrate plants don't shelter the hornworms well, but a young hornworm will eat the entire plant.
I really wonder just what kind of phytochems are in puncturevine, since Manduca are really nightshade sphinxes. Puncturevine is NOT a nightshade at all.