Manduca sexta

Common Name(s): Carolina Sphinx,
Tobacco Hornworm, Tomato Hornworm*,
Six-Spotted Hawkmoth

*Tomato Hornworm is generally used for Manduca quinquemaculatus, however it is included here since most people use it when referring to this species.

Ecology:
This is a moth of suburban and urban areas. Inevitably, whenever I tell someone I work with Sphingidae or Hawkmoths, someone always tells me about “the big caterpillar that eats all my tomato!”. It’s almost always this species. Once a common garden pest, it seems to have declined slightly in the Northeastern United States. It can still be found with much ease in many areas. This moth suffers a lot of parasitism from Cotesia spp. The large adults can be seen hovering around plants feeding at night.

Adult description:
This is a fairly large (51-56mm forewing1) moth. It can be commonly confused with Manduca quinquemaculatus, and they occur over much of the same range. The ground color of M. sexta is brown, with a thin white band on the outer forewing margin. This line is quite jagged in appearance. There is usually a white discal spot. The body of this moth often has 6 paired yellow dots, however this is not a consistent feature. The hindwings of this moth are black with two mostly straight, thick whitish bands. The bands may have smaller black lines running through them, but are always edged with black.

Larval description:
L1: Upon hatching, the small larvae have a very large black horn. The horn is almost twice the body length.

L4: Around this stage, the caterpillars starts to look noticeably different. It is green, rather granulose, and 7 lateral white stripes. These stripes are often bordered in a green/blue color, and are located near the spiracles. The last line continues to the base of the red horn.

L5: The final instar looks very similar to a larger L4. The coloration remains the same, although sometimes a darker form of the larvae can be found. In the darker form, more black lines seem to cover the larva. The darker areas give the larva a much more contrasted appearance. The lateral lines seem to become slightly thinner in appearance as the larva grows. Before pupation, the entire larva usually develops a pink cast.

Host plants:

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L5 (C) Jon Mularczyk

The gallery to the left contains photos of Manduca sexta adults. If you have a photo that you would like to submit to us, please contact us.

The gallery to the right contains photos of Manduca sexta larval and pupal stages. If you have a photo that you would like to submit to us, please contact us.