Posts Tagged: sphinx moth

Godzilla Lives!

Remember Godzilla? The 1954 iconic film, Godzilla, featured what Wikipedia calls "an enormous, destructive prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation." I have a Godzilla. I have it only because my neighbor served it...

This three-inch-long tobacco hornworm appears to be ready to eat more tomato leaves (or the photographer). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This three-inch-long tobacco hornworm appears to be ready to eat more tomato leaves (or the photographer). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Godzilla" roaming around her habitat. Tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta) become Carolina sphinx moths, also known as hawkmoths or tobacco hawkmoths. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Godzilla" roaming around her habitat. Tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta) become Carolina sphinx moths, also known as hawkmoths or tobacco hawkmoths. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Hornworms Are Not Your Friends

If you love tomatoes, you probably hate hornworms. Frankly, the garden's not big enough for both of you, and one of you has to go. It's not you. It's the hornworm. "This one is nobody's friend if you're a gardener and like to grow...

This hornworm is feeding on a pepper plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This hornworm is feeding on a pepper plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

When the caterpillar or larva is disturbed, it "rears up into an Egyptian sphinx-like pose," says entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

When the caterpillar or larva is disturbed, it "rears up into an Egyptian sphinx-like pose," says entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The frass (droppings) from a hornworm. It's a tell-tale sign you have hornworms in your garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The frass (droppings) from a hornworm. It's a tell-tale sign you have hornworms in your garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The tomato hornworm turns into a sphinx moth or hummingbird moth (family Sphingidae). (Wikipedia Photo)

The tomato hornworm turns into a sphinx moth or hummingbird moth (family Sphingidae). (Wikipedia Photo)

Behold the White-Lined Sphinx Moth

Our cat used to catch them. She'd bring them into the house and watch them flutter at our feet.  The white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) flies during the day and at night. It's not a graceful flier. It bumbles along like Howard Hughes'...

White-lined sphinx moth in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

White-lined sphinx moth in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

White-lined sphinx moth heads for salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

White-lined sphinx moth heads for salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

View from above of the white-lined sphinx moth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

View from above of the white-lined sphinx moth. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Big on Butterflies

Our cat is an entomologist. She has no formal training in the science of insects, but she can catch insects with the best of 'em. Plus, her credentials include a butterfly mark on her leg. Xena the Warrior Princess is a rescue cat. We first spotted her...

Xena the Warrior Princess is a feline entomologist. She specializes in butterflies and sphinx moths. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Our feline entomologist collects moths. This is probably a sphinx moth, the adult form of the tomato hornworm (Manduca sexta (Linnaeus). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Read more