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Manduca sexta
(Any corrections to my ID would be greatly appreciated.) I found two of these on a 'Texas Bird Pepper Tree'. These had 7 white stripes down each side with a red horn-type tail. They totally devoured this little Pepper Tree. (Ok, because I have many coming up wild.) Wiki: A mnemonic to remember the markings is tobacco hornworms have straight white lines like cigarettes, while tomato hornworms have V-shaped markings (as in "vine-ripened" tomatoes)like cigarettes, while tomato hornworms have V-shaped markings (as in "vine-ripened" tomatoes).
Tobacco fields, vegetable gardens, and a wide variety of habitats. (Plus Texas Bird Pepper Tree)
Added references: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/speci..., http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/128...
Spotted on Oct 24, 2014
Submitted on Oct 24, 2014
7 Comments
A beautiful caterpillar....
Thank you acreamoth99! There were two of them and they ate all the leaves off this tiny tree in one day.
Thank you arlanda. This was the 1st time I've seen one. I was amazed at the size.
Nice!
Thank you medusasnakes123 and ForestDragon.
Thanks for the link! I'll change name to include Carolina Sphinx.
I like tobacco horn worms and tomato horn worms. They are so interesting!
It looks like you have the ID correct. Really nice series! This species is also called the Carolina Sphinx (there are many species of Sphinx moths). Here is another link: http://bugguide.net/node/view/3244