BY SKEETER
I showed you my front porch last week. In that posting, I also showed you my two pots of coleus, pentas and creeping jenny plants. Here you see one of those plants after I had pruned the coleus a bit. It had become top heavy and fell over during a windy storm here in my GEORGIA GARDENS.
24 hours later, here is the same plant! Yep something has eaten the Pentas plant out of both arrangements!
At first, I thought the deer or bunny had been in the front porch area but found that odd. I have never seen either of them on the brick work in the 15 years we have lived here. Upon closer inspection, I found the culprit. Two huge Hornworms! Look at their size compared to my finger.
One is in the brownish color with large spots along the side. Nope, those are not big eyes but rather spots to fool predators. These are not the tomato or tobacco type hornworms as they have white V shaped lines and these do not. Click HERE and you will see the tomato type hornworm on my tomatoes from 2013.
Here you see the green one. Aren't they just the neatest looking caterpillars ever? Tina, I bet your chickens would call them a treat.
I do believe these things will soon morph into Sphinx Months if not, then some sort of moth. I find them most interesting and beautiful. Yep, I find some creepy crawlies beautiful. They have not touched anything else in the mixed pot. I will leave them be and let nature takes it course with my HORNWORMS, In the Garden...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
I don't see these much anymore. They are cool.
ReplyDeleteThose are SO cool! Wow, very big too! I'm interested in why one is brown and the other green? I'm with you. I leave most creepy crawlies alone. Good call. I bet the pentas will grow back. Your pot is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely indeed, great photos!
ReplyDeleteCool stuff! I like finding them too. The hawkmoths they make are awesome.
ReplyDeleteI would leave them be too; they are pretty and the moths will be even more attractive.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure these giants are about to morph into some aliens about to destroy planet earth???
ReplyDeleteXylophanes tersa, the tersa sphinx.
ReplyDeleteYes, they love Pentas.
Their moths are gorgeous and the larvae, adorable.
A tersa looks like a model stealth plane, only brown and white.
As their slender form suggests, they fly 3x faster than a Manduca moth [nightshade sphinxes].
Thank you!
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