Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yikes, my silkworms have never mothed, so I didn't expect the tomato hornworms to. I am happy to see that they also can't fly, but..... Aren't the Sphinx moths? Buzz around flowers at night? Do they have to eat? I still hope I get to the point of raising "worms" as I live in the far north where they will freeze in winter. Please help me! Thanx a million!

They are "hawkmoths" and are nectar eaters. When they actually emerge from the chrysalis they need to be able to hang so their wings straighten. I haven't had any actually feed, as they didn't fly well and were lethargic. My adult melleri loved them. They do have large spines on their legs. If you actually have some flying I would put a small hummingbird feeder with nectar in the room or enclosure.

As Carlton said they are referred to as hawk moths but are also known as Sphinx (family Sphingidae) due to the way the cats hold themselves while resting.

They do fly, are actually extremely strong flyers, so you may have crippled it b/c it didn't have a place to hang and expand and dry its wings.

As for food, yes they do eat and, as noted, are nectar eaters and fly at night. If it is not flying it cannot feed. Their proboscis (mouthpart) is up to 2x the length of their body and they need to hover in order to feed. I hand fed a crippled Sphinx moth for five days - very fragile operation - but I rear all sort of leps (not as feeders!) so I spend a lot of time with them and have performed other tricky techniques on these lovely creatures.

In order to have caterpillars you have to have male and female adults that actually mate (an unmated female with abort her eggs and you may wait endlessly for them to hatch) proper set up for mating and egg laying, getting started with correct host plant or artificial food, rearing (the biggest hassle is the food issue as they get big), etc. It's not rocket science but it does take time and effort.

In the future, at the very least, make sure they have a stick to climb upon so you don't have other casualties. Might I also suggest that unless the one(s) that is/are not flying are going to be food to a herp put them in the freezer to kill them. They will not be able to mate and provide you with offspring, nor can they eat so at least you can put them out of their misery

I am sure some people think I am nuts b/c of my other hobby, but some people think herpers are nuts

lele

If you are interested here is a photo of a recently emerged female cecropia moth with a 6" wingspan...she was "just a caterpillar" at one time, too. Reared her from egg

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/28017cc-profile.jpg

her profile showing her huge abdomen loaded with then unfertile eggs. I was able to wild pair her and collected some of the eggs to carry on and released her that evening.

I know this isn't the moth forum but thought you might like to see that a moth/caterpillar is not always ordinary

I will post cham photos next