I always liked bugs … except grasshoppers. I do not know why, those give me the creeps. Also bugs in my hair is a big NO - NO.
I haven’t picked these in a loooong time. When I was a kid I used to keep a small terrarium just for observing all sorts of bugs. Moths were my favorite.
There is not many large moths in my area … so of course the sweet potato hornworm is very dear to me. It also has my favorite combination of colors … gray and pink. So it should not be such a surprise I even fancied myself getting a tattoo of it (but never went through).
The caterpillar mostly feeds of the leaf of potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, etc. Here they don’t represent a serious threat to the veggies … so I can’t say I personally place them in the pest department.
Life cycle:
I found two pupas while picking potatoes the other day. I kept them in a jar with some moist sand (it is white only for the contrast purpose). Why moist? Pupas are usually burrowed in the soil …not enough moist might result in undeveloped wings. After 5 days the first one hatched. I missed it for a few minutes it seems. I knew I should have paid more attention to my cats. They kept trying to tell me something is going on (and probably wondering if I would share my loot).
The pictures are not the best. It was night time and I could not have this photo session around my cats so I had to go out on the driveway.
I left it on a higher ground since there is plenty of predators on the ground at night time. There it will dry and unfold its wings. I find them gorgeous.
Sadly I don’t think the other one will hatch.
The pupas butt moves when you touch it (yes it wiggles). This one doesn’t. I will give it a few more days in hopes I am wrong.