I have found these caterpillars in my peppers a couple of times. They have no interest in my nearby morning glories. They also put up a fight coming off.
The one on my Florescent Purple pepper (shown here) spat a purple fluid on my hand. The other one which was on a green plant spat a green fluid.
What sort of huge moth would these become if I let them eat my peppers?
Tobacco Hornworm. Manduca sexta.
Thanks bordersandjacks!
You are fast, and correct: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/35
One of the posters on the bugfiles entry says that they only munch on solanaceae which would explain why they are uninterested in my MGs.
Hey, I hit enter too fast. I love the Carolina Sphinx Moth they turn into so I usually try and find something that one can munch on. But, they are voracious and HUGE. They'll eat your peppers, tomatoes and brugmancias, so watch out! I have a blue tobacco tree so I let one or two chomp on that. :)
Browsing the Bugfiles, I found two entries of interest.
First, the aformentioned Carolina Sphinx Moth aka Tobacco Hornworm (Manduca sexta), http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/35/
Second, the Five-spotted hawkmoth or Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata),
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/210/
From the Bugfiles photos both species look very similar in the caterpillar form.
How do we tell the caterpillars apart?
This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 5:21 PM
The Tobacco Hornworm has 7 white diagonal lines on it, the Tomato Hornworm has V shaped markings. The Tobacco Hornworm is much more common in the southern US.
bordersandjacks,
Thanks! I see the difference now. They are compared vis-a-vis here: http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/field/hornworm.htm
Of the 5 photos of the Tomato Hornworm caterpillars at, http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/5012/ would you say that only the one by kennedyh is correct?
Would you say that the other 4 are actually Tobacco Hornworm caterpillars?
This message was edited Jul 7, 2008 9:41 AM
