Naturalist Notes: Update/Correction - Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar

In my last post I thought I had a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar on my Tomato plant. However, after doing some more research I discovered in fact that it is actually a Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar. They are very similar in appearances. One of the major differences between the two Caterpillars are along their bodies; the Tobacco Hornworm has 7 diagonal lines, while the Tomato Hornworm has 8 lateral “V” formations. In addition, the “horn-like tail” is pink in the Tobacco and black in the Tomato Caterpillar. Both plants, Tobacco and Tomato belong to the Solanaceae family.

Last week I was searching for the Caterpillar and I just couldn’t find it. Apparently, as they mature they drop off the plants and burrow into the soil to pupate (no wonder why it was invisible!). They emerge about 2 weeks later, and out comes an adult Sphinx, Hawk or Hummingbird Moth. I'll keep you posted if I am so lucky to see one!

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar

Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar © Denise Etienne

Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar © Denise Etienne

A couple days ago I was outside admiring my lovely tomato plants, which has quite a few fruits on it, you can imaging I felt like a proud mother!

To my surprise, I discovered a creature who also thought highly of my plants! It is called a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar. It is approx 3 ½ inches long, with a distinctive " horn" (hence the name) on it’s rear end and several diagonal stripes along the body. He was happily consuming the leaves and stems.

Today I went searching of him and it’s like he has totally just vanished! I must have spent over ½ hour looking to no avail. It’s either one of two things, i) he must have pupated or ii) he was lunch for the neighboring birds. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted...

© Denise Etienne

PS:  Thanks for your comments Timothy, I've tried countless times to reply to you but for whatever reason this page isn’t allowing me to respond anymore, its really weird? 
Take care,

Red-tailed Squirrel 

It has been quite a while since I last saw a Red-tailed Squirrel. Today we visited the Botanical Gardens and saw over seven different individuals.  They all seemed to be having a ball, jumping, sprinting and chasing. These small rodents mainly feed on fruits, twigs, flowers and insects.

© Denise Etienne