Tobacco Hornworm Moth Can Smell with its Wings

Tobacco hornworm in hand while eating a tomato plant (photo from Wikimedia) 5 August 2026 This very large green caterpillar is a tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). Though its name suggests it feeds only on tobacco, its hosts include many plants in the Solanaceae family including tobacco, tomatoes, Datura (ex: jimsonweed), bell peppers. Tobacco hornworm on a tomato plant (photo from Wikimedia) From hatch to full-grown, the caterpillar feeds for two to three weeks before it begins to wander, looking for a place to pupate underground in loose soil. 7 to 10 days later it emerges as a large moth, the Carolina Sphinx moth also called the tobacco hawk moth. (video embedded from entomology_1 on YouTube) The Carolina sphinx moth is famous for its ability to hover like a hummingbird as it drinks from deep flowers. Here it is in slow motion in a wind tunnel. Slow motion of a tobacco hawk moth at flying different speeds in a wind tunnel (video embedded from Lund University on YouTube) When it’s…