5-Spotted Hawk Moth Photography by Kozmic Dreams

My Digital Photography of the

5-spotted Hawk Moth (Tomato Hornworm),

Manduca quinquemaculata

Click on any photo to see a larger view!

Parasitized Tomato Hornworm

This is only the third tomato hornworm I've ever seen. My parents found it on one of their tomato plants. My initial thought was to pick these cocoons off and save the hornworm, but I read that the braconid wasp that parasitized the hornworm, Cotesia congregatus, is considered beneficial. It is best to leave the situation alone. It was very hot and sunny today. My dad had to patiently hold a piece of cardboard over me and the hornworm so I could take these photographs.

August 13, 2019

August 16, 2019

I returned three days later to photograph it under better lighting conditions. This time, I was also able to photograph its left side. I noticed there are less cocoons, but there are wounds on the caterpillar's skin where they once were. Despite knowing many specialized wasps will be able to continue their existence, I still found it difficult to document the suffering hornworm.

Larva (Tomato Hornworm) on August 26, 2010

This is only the second hornworm I've ever seen in person. Brian found this one outside on one of my tomato plants. I found the previous one at my old house, but I didn't have a digital camera at that point and only got a few pictures of the final moth. It was about three inches long.

Pupa on September 5, 2010

My hornworm stopped eating its tomato leaves and started looking really agitated. It wouldn't stop walking around its cage (before, it seemed nice and content eating its tomato leaves). I determined that it needed some soil to pupate. I put some loose potting soil in a pet cage so it was about 4 inches deep. The hornworm dug holes all over the place until it finally settled at the bottom and became a pupa. I did dig it up because I wanted to photograph it. I tried to bury it again loosely so it could still breathe. It is going to overwinter in my attached garage this time. Last time, I kept my pupa in the refrigerator and I think it was too dry and that is why my hawk moth's wings were messed up. I hope this one comes out all right.

Moth on June 14, 2011

I successfully kept the pupa in my garage in a container of soil, buried slightly beneath the surface. In April, I started adding some water to the soil to simulate spring rains. At the end of May, I brought the container inside the house. On June 14, 2011, I added a rather large helping of water. The previous night, the pupa appeared to be darker in color, almost black, rather than reddish. About 1/2 hour later, the moth had emerged and was drying itself on the sticks I provided (a very important item---otherwise the moth can't properly hang and dry its wings, which is what I think happened to my first hawk moth. This moth's wings dried perfectly. It is a female (you can tell because of her narrow antennae---a male would need wide antennae to capture pheromones). You can see her releasing a milky substance of pheromones in the first two photos in the second row. It was evening when she emerged, which was perfect, because she is a nocturnal moth, so I released her onto the porch. She stayed there all evening and was even still up in the corner the following morning and early afternoon. Then she was gone later that afternoon. I hope she found a mate.

My First Hornworm and Hawk Moth

On August 9, 2003, I found a huge, green hornworm caterpillar walking across my driveway. I'd always wanted to find one of these. It was about 4-5 inches long---the largest caterpillar I've ever found. The next morning, it had already pupated! Unfortunately, I didn't get my digital camera until a few days later, so there are no photos of the caterpillar. I thought it was rather late in the season and I was wondering when this creature was planning on emerging as a moth. I read about them in one of my wildlife encyclopedias and discovered that the pupa needed to overwinter and would emerge the following spring. I put the pupa in a smaller, covered container in some soil, put it in my refrigerator, and kept it moist throughout the winter. In early May, I took it out and kept it at room temperature. On May 21st, I came home from work and the moth had emerged! He was beautifully soft and fuzzy. However, his wings were folded under and he wasn't able to fly. I took some pictures of him on my woodburned door and let him go in the front flower bed. A week later, he was found on the sidewalk path to my house, almost dead.

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