TOBACCO HORNWORM, Manduca sexta (Linnaeus)
and the TOMATO HORNWORM, M. quinquemaculata (Haworth)
Description Picture Damage
  • adults are large, fast-flying hawk moths
  • sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds, with a 5-inch winspread
  • large larvae are similar with seven diagonal light stripes on the tobacco hornworm
  • eight curved stripes on the tomato hornworm

    • Photo credit: Extension Entomology, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University

  • larvae feed voraciously on tomato and pepper foliage