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Manduca sexta
Most who have ever grown
tomatoes have seen this creature devouring their precious plants.
The
"official" common names, tomato hornworm, and tobacco hornworm, have
been flip flopped between the species Manduca sexta and M.
quinquemaculata. So the correct name depends on the date
of publication.
This tomato worm on one of my tomato plants, is
about 10 cm. long.
This look at the tail end of the
caterpillar clearly shows the black and white markings, and the
red horn.
When the caterpillar curls its
front end up in this "sphinx" position, it looks like it
has a much larger head and mouth than it does. Annoy
it a little more and you can hear clicking of the mouth
parts. (You don't want them to click on your finger.)
The caterpillar burrows into the
ground to pupate.
Here is an adult moth. It
had to dig its way to the surface before it could expand its
wings.
In this eye to eye view, you can see
the long proboscis tightly curled under the head. When
straightened, it allows the moth to feed from deep flowers while
hovering like a humming bird.
[Taxonomy :
Classification
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