Species Manduca quinquemaculatus - Five-spotted Hawk Moth - Hodges#7776

7776

Tomato Hornworm

Manduca quinquemaculatus (Haworth, 1803)

Sphinx quinquemaculata Haworth, 1803

Phlegethontius celeus Hübner, [1821]

Protoparce quinquemaculata ab. wirti Schaus, 1927

Latin quinque- "five" + maculata- "spotted"

Wingspan 9-13.5 cm

Adult: Similar to Carolina Sphinx, but has five pairs of spots on abdomen, not six. Zig-zag lines on hindwing are sharp, separated by white.

Larva: The caterpillar has eight v-shaped stripes rather than the seven diagonal stripes of the similar Tobacco Hornworm (larva of Carolina Sphinx). The horn is also straight and blue-black rather than orange, yellow red. Unfortunately many images of these caterpillars found on the internet are misidentified. See National Gardening Association website for correctly identified image of larva.

Includes eastern North America. More common in southern states, especially along the Gulf Coast.

May-October

Larvae feed on tomato, tobacco, and relatives (Solanaceae).

Adults take nectar from flowers including Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), petunia (Petunia hybrida), bouncing bet (Saponaria officinalis), tobacco (Nicotiana), and phlox (Phlox).

Pupates in soil and overwinters at that stage.

Caterpillars are sometimes a pest of cultivated plants.

Adults fly at dusk.

Carolina Sphinx - Manduca sexta

Covell, p. 32, plate 3 #4

Salsbury, p. 323--photo of specimen, adult (1)

Moth Photographers Group (2)

Pacific Northwest Moths (3)

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) (4)

Univ. Florida

Maryland Moths

National Gardening Association - true larval image.

Dallas Butterflies

The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5)