Biological Tuesday

Nov. 18, 2003
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* Hornworm Moth *

Actually a Sweet Potato Hornworm Moth, this big moth, with a wingspan of about four inches flew in my back door one evening.

Scaring the crap out of me I thought it was a bat at first, until I was able to see it more clearly. I immediately went for my camera and when I turned around I had lost it. I looked all over for some quite some time. On the walls, on the ceiling, and couldn't seem to find it anywhere until I looked in the sink. I found it motionless and belly up in a pan of water. I quickly rescued it and was relieved to find out it was still alive. It took some time for it to dry its wings. It remained on my shirt for about thirty minutes or so as I watched TV. I finally released it out the door again when it appeared to be okay. I saw it again the next day as I returned to the house. It was sitting right on the front screen door. 

It took me some time to research this large moth. Looking in my book I thought it was a Tobacco or Tomato Hornworm. However, they have yellow spots along the abdomen, whereas this one had bright pink spots. A little searching on the web provided me with a more accurate match.