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| camouflaged hornworm on vitex tree |
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| rustic sphinx munching a leaf |
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| The hornworm is much easier to see on a bare branch. |
Goldfinches watched the caterpillars from the mesquite tree.
Hummingbirds were curious too!
A hornworm from last year demonstrating the classic sphinx pose:
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| tobacco hornworm on bell pepper plant |
For several years, I assumed the large green caterpillars on my tomato plants were tomato hornworms, but now I see that they look more like tobacco hornworms (Carolina sphinx) or Rustic sphinx larvae.
Tomato hornworms have eight v-shaped markings on each side where tobacco or rustic hornworms have seven diagonal white lines.
Hornworms morph into sphinx moths, also known as hummingbird moths that can hover in mid-air feeding on flower nectar as hummingbirds do. Another name for sphinx moth is hawk moth, due to their long narrow wings and powerful flight.
Two years ago I found a rustic sphinx moth on the ground under the vitex tree. It held onto my fingers, exercising its wings, having perhaps just emerged from underground and not able to fly yet.
14 second video of the rustic sphinx moth
(noisy bird sounds in background)
(noisy bird sounds in background)
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| rustic sphinx moth |
Here's a different kind of sphinx moth, the white-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata) clinging to the stucco wall below the porch light:
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| white-lined sphinx moth |
I've just mentioned four types of hawkmoths but today I learned that there are about 1400 species of hawkmoths!
