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The question "What do hornworms eat?" brings to mind the old "What does the 500 pound gorilla eat?" "Anything it wants to!" Hornworms are the 500 pound gorillas of the caterpillar world. They are huge and yet have a way of blending into the foliage of the many different types of plants they favor. The adults are the striking hawk or sphinx moths admired by many people. Instead of asking what do hornworms eat, it might be easier to discuss what they do not devour.
What Do Hornworms Eat- Tomato Hornworms
The manduca quenquemaculata or Tomato hornworm eats leaves of shrubs, trees, weeds as well as peppers, eggplants, brugmansia. It is renowned for destroying. Of the two species of hornworms, the tomato hornworm is a bit more colorful with eight V shaped markings along their sides and a straight dark blue or black horn. The white lines and the curved red horn on the rear end are what distinguish the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, from the tomato hornworm.
Their large green body is marked with seven diagonal white lines along the side of their plump bodies. Neither species like the sun so they spend the daytime eating the interior foliage of the plants they inhabit and only move out into the outer regions in the early morning hours or after the sun has gone down in the evenings. Until they move out into the open they are very difficult to see despite their size. The evidence of their appetite will begin to be seen in midsummer and will continue on throughout the summer if they are not removed.
One of the most obvious ways to determine what hornworms eat in your garden is to check the ground beneath the plants. If you see rather large dark charcoal-like bits on the ground, you are looking at hornworm excrement, also known as frass. A close inspection of the innermost parts of the plant will uncover one of the culprits. Both types of hornworm can even be found on the same plant as they share some of the same tastes in plants.
What Do Hornworms Eat - Tobacco Hornworms
The tobacco hornworm is most commonly found in the warmer southern United States and the West Indies. What do tobacco hornworms eat in these two locations? Not only the tobacco they are named after but other plants in the nightshade plant family. The 1700 species of nightshade plants originated in the tropics but are now common on many continents. In addition to the tomato, pepper and eggplant nightshades include "Irish" potatoes, henbane and Jimson weed. Belladonna, ground cherry and sand bur are also nightshades that grow in the wild and are favored by tobacco hornworms without objection from humans.
After several molting the chunky green caterpillar cocoons and then emerges as the large dusky beauty of a moth called the Hawk or Sphinx moth. Many people became aware of the moth after the Death's-head Hawk moth was featured in the Silence of the Lambs movie. Although the final product is captivating few gardeners are willing to forfeit their crops. Hopefully you now know the answer to the question, "What do hornworms eat?"
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Author Bio Box: Patricia Wainwright
Get all the facts about Pest and Disease and gardening articles at GreenThumbArticles.com!
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