I came in two hours later than usual to the garden work party on Saturday morning at the Fair Share Garden. I found these amazing tomato hornworms, Manduca quinquemaculata, when I got there. I spotted two of them when I came in and checked the beds for weeds and pests. They were perfectly camouflaged among what was left of the foliages they had been consuming. Hornworms are large and are best controlled by picking them off the plants. Here is an informative page I found about hornworms.
Inpromtu insect workshop.
Look at how much foliage they took off this stem! It only takes them about an hour to do that.
These larvae were about 3.5 inches long. The adult is the Five-spotted hawk moth.
Here I am with the Rose Geranium plants that are coming in so nicely. No bugs there, just sweet little pink flowers. These plants are so great for Florida gardens. The grow year round and start easily from cuttings. This is the same Rose geranium that I use for making infused oil, or vinegars. Specifically I use it my Rose Geranium Deodorant Spray and Rose Geranium Conditioning hair rinse.
Photos by Fair Share Garden volunteer Patricia Shaw.
4 comments:
oh my, they look like aliens!!
The texture of that horn worm was like a rice paper tomatoe. What a face you could make it into a cartoon character..think how fast the jaws would be munching away to eat that much plant compared to the body size of Horn Worm...That was an interesting moment
at the FSU Garden..Joel is brave to hold it in his hand
Thanks for adding my name to pic post..Good also I can understand more about the Miracle Tree..Great Info
Alien invaders!
Thanks so much for all your wonderful pics Patsy. Keep them coming!
Hey Great..its nice to B noticed like the horn worm..tehee!
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