They are really cool looking. Any idea what Butterfly or Moth they are? Do they look different because one is male and female? I live in South Florida, Broward County. They are chowing down on my (Burgs.) Angel Trumpets. Why is it so hard to find bug info? Why can't I put in butterfly and find butterflies or caterpillars and find caterpillars? It is hard to find pictures of Caterpillars even on butterfly sites. Strange!
From the looks of it, its a Tobacco / Tomato Horn Worm, a Big Green Caterpillar
go here for more info
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/493170909_fe45e5d074.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mapplegate/493170909/&usg=__VMmbMWow5z5l7sdKZGLbjFw6dC0=&h=332&w=500&sz=125&hl=en&start=1&itbs=1&tbnid=qRw4ZHoLAvjoiM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dred%2Bhorned%2Bcaterpillars%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
let me know if i have found the exact specimen
Tobacco Hornworm from the looks of it, but you can take a look at these images and see if you agree: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/adv_search.php?searcher[common]=hornworm&searcher[bugorder]=&searcher[family]=&searcher[genus]=&searcher[species]=&Search=Search
Thats exactly what it looks like lol...i guess well wait an see if Kiyzersoze agrees with us lol
Thats them. I have seen this moth in my yard before. They like my Night Blooming Jasmine but this is the first time I have seen this caterpillar though. That would also explain my tomato plant. Thanks!!
I wrote this a couple of years ago: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1470/
You might enjoy the read.
Thanks Melody! Great article. I love the way you write. You actually answered another question that I had. What the heck is eating my tomatoes? I had tomatoes with big teeth marks. I thought that maybe the racoons were chewing on them. LOL! Well I think my Burgs. will come back and be fine so I think that next year I will search for the lovely creatures on my tomato plants and transfer them to my burgs. until their season is over or I run out of leaves on my Brugs. I picture me chasing them back and forth across the yard. Two years from now we will see. I may be squishing them with the rest of you. Thanks again!
OK so maybe not. Hmmm... got to thinking, if the fat little green varmints are no longer on my Burgs. where might they be? Oh no!! My tomatos. Yep! There they were, all four of the little monsters. I plucked them off and made them a nice little home out of a planter and some screening. Ya I know, I can hear you all screaming, "Squish them!" Well, that is where things got a little strange. I am missing 2 green monsters but ended up with a tiny cacoon that hatched a green fly thing. And oh, they don't seem to mind being in captivity, or at least it hasn't bothered their appetite. Here is a pict. of the green fly. I doubt that he has anything to do with my worms, as my sister-in-law calls them. I think that he just happened to be on the branch that I put in their habitat. I alos have a pict. of the cacoon.
This one might be better.
Here is the cacoon. How long before my worms turn into a cacoon?
Your green bug is a lacewing. A good bug.
Agree, Lacewing: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/4822/
For Hornworms, 3 or 4 weeks from hatching to pupating. They'll burrow in the ground and may stay all winter, or if conditions are good, emerge in a couple of weeks as a moth for another generation.
That's him! I let the lacewing go after his photo session but he was in my patio. I tried to find him to set him free but he was no where to be found. OK now in English please, "from hatching to pupating", what part of that is catepillar and which part is cacoon? Maybe the two I am missing are burried? I will keep an eye out for them to hatch into moth form. Hopefully they won't eat me out of house and garden. LOL!
OK I took a closer look and mine doesn't have the black squares and his body is shaped different? Is that because he just hatched?
These don't actually spin a cocoon. There are changes that happen to the body that harden the skin and it is more solid.
'Hatching to pupating'...this means that the caterpillar hatches out of its egg..it eats, grows and changes. When it has matured, it pupates. Pupating is similar to the species that spin a cocoon, but the appearance is different. It forms a pupa.
This page will help explain the changes the caterpillar goes through to become a moth: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/hornworm.htm
There are several different species of Lacewings...yours may be related to the ones that we linked.
Thanks Melody. I think the whole bug thing is going to take a while to sink in. I will definately check out the link you added. So if it is not a cacoon what is the shell thing they come out of called? Thanks again.
