Authors: Dr. Phillip Roberts, Extension Entomologist, The University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, Tifton, GA 31793 & Dr. Paul Guillebeau, Extension Entomologist, The University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, Athens, GA 30602
Tobacco Hornworm - Manduca sexta (Linnaeus)
Tomato Hornworm - Manduca quinquemaculata (Haworth)
Order Lepidoptera: Family Sphingidae
Description
- Adult: wingspan from 4 1/2 to 5 inches. Wings of tobacco hornworm are slate-brown; tomato hornworm, ash-gray. Tobacco hornworm has six, orange spots on each side of the abdomen; tomato hornworm has five.
- Larvae: Green body with fine, white pubescence. Up to 3 1/4 inches.
- Tobacco hornworm: seven diagonal stripes on each side; posterior horn curved and red.
- Tomato hornworm: eight V-shaped markings on each side; horn is straight and black.
Hosts
Primarily solanaceous plants, including tobacco, tomato, eggplant, pepper, and some weedy plants. Tobacco and tomato plants preferred oviposition sites.
Damage
Strip leaves from tomato vines. May also feed on the surface of fruit. Damage usually occurs from midsummer to the end of the growing season.
Life Cycle
Overwinter as pupae in the soil. Moths emerge from early June to August and lay eggs on underside of leaves. Up to 2,000 eggs per female laid 1-5 per night. Eggs hatch in 1-2 days. Larvae feed for 3 weeks and pupate in the soil for about 3 weeks. Most eggs laid from August to early September.
Control
Larvae can be removed by hand in home gardens. Populations often controlled by parasitic wasps. Parasitized larvae often covered with small, white, spindleshaped wasp pupae. Do not remove parasitized larvae. If insecticides are necessary, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, and Bacillus thuringiensis are used.
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