The moths are equipped with a ten-centimeter tubular “proboscis” - a coiled hollow straw - for drawing nectar from deep, tubular flowers.
The adult hawkmoths that develop from hornworms feed on the nectar of large, fragrant white flowers of evening primroses or an annual, ornamental shrub “Datura” also called “moonflower.” Fast-flying hawkmoths are the primary pollinators for these plants. Tobacco hornworms (also called “goliath worms”) become tobacco hawk moths also called “Carolina sphinx moths.” These larval hornworm caterpillars feed exclusively on tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, tobbcco and potato plants - members of the “nightshade” plant family that includes other plants that produce toxic alkaloids including “deadly nightshade.” American colonists once believed tomatoes themselves were also poisonous.
Tomato hornworms mature to become five-spotted hawkmoths. Two related hornworm caterpillars are the larval stages of two different hawkmoths. Picking caterpillars is not optional if you enjoy delicious, sun-ripened backyard tomatoes. Failure to remove hornworm caterpillars from plants guarantees they will be completely defoliated in days. Most gardeners agree: picking bloated, green worms off the tomato plants takes grit. Tomato hornworms and their closely related cousins, tobacco hornworms are huge, ornate, beautifully patterned and repulsive. I know it’s irrational but they are gross! Picking hornworms from our tomato plants takes me from shudder to shrieks if they latch on. Photo DAĬue the sci-fi theme music for this annual garden “harvest” in the midst of summer weeding and watering. I try not to show it but then my voice cracks. Each is capable of making me wobbly in the knees, particularly if I am not prepared for an encounter. Among them: handling huge hairy spiders, snakes that tend to coil and strike and large writhing green worms. So it becomes difficult for me to explain why a few particular creatures make me squeamish and even queasy. Noxious plants – poison ivy for example – have evolved camouflage, spines, thorns or clever chemical defenses to colonize challenging habitats, repel grazing animals or to attract specific pollinators.
Spiders, snapping turtles, snakes, bats, blackflies, mosquitos - even parasites like ticks - are all animals with bad reputations but they surely serve a purpose in nature. Even slimy or creepy-crawly critters have some redeeming purpose. Like the forest, the garden provides a miniature ecosystem to study, tend and from which to learn…Īs a naturalist, I try to appreciate and understand ecological niches filled by all plant and animal life.
Leaving the mid-summer forest to the hungry biting deerflies, I spend more time mowing fields or watering and weeding the vegetable garden.
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