It has a wingspan of 4 to 5 inches, flies quickly, and is able to hover like a hummingbird. The adult, a Sphinx moth, is large, mottled, gray or brown, with 5 orange spots on each side of its body. The moths emerge in the late spring to early summer and lay their eggs. Pupae overwinter 3 to 4 inches underground. There is one generation per year in the north. Pupation is in the soil and in the southern states it is 2 to 4 weeks until the adults emerge to lay eggs for a second generation. Pupae are 2 inches long and have a curved handle on brown spindle-shaped cases. The larva feed for about one month, molting 4 to 5 times until full development and pupation. The tomato horn worm chews the leaves and fruit of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, potatoes and dill-which is a good trap crop. The horn cannot sting and a red horn belongs to the tobacco hornworm. The caterpillar is 3 to 5 inches long with 8 white stripes on each side and a black horn projecting from the top rear. The tomato hornworm, Protoparce quinquemaculata, is the green caterpillar of a Sphinx moth. But because they are such fast and steady eaters, picking and drowning is a necessity if not a pleasure. Despite their size, these worms, the color of the plant, are almost invisible, and it took the two of us a long time to be sure we got them all - 15! The worms hang on tight and wouldn't be so unpleasant to handle if they didn't squirm. Garden gloves, my glasses, and a call to my husband for help. Quickly, a pail of hot water and a little detergent - I had no kerosene. It could only be hornworms - tomato hornworms - the most voracious appetites of very unwanted creatures. Instead of a forest of leaves on the South ends of the tomato beds there were only sticks.
I opened the gate, walked toward the center beds and froze. The rain the night before had been long and steady so I had not been out to the garden until late afternoon to pick some chard and tomatoes for dinner.
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