Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata)

An enemy of gardeners! Thought to be a pest that attacks tomatoes, and is known to go after eggplants, peppers, and potatoes. It is a nightshade specialist which people name pest and try to kill. The caterpillar is simply eating the foods it evolved to consume, that we humans later started using as food sources. When you search Tomato Hornworm the first few results will be how to get rid of them in your garden. You have to dig to learn about them in any way that does not include pest control. The Tomato Hornworms, everyone seems to detest transform into Five spotted hawkmoths. These moths feed off native flowering plants and is the primary pollinator to Datura innoxia, whose native ranges are is Southwestern United states, Central and South America. These plants are known to have psychoactive effects, the moths have been known to display erratic flight patterns after consuming the nectar of these plants. There are two other native plants that depend on them for pollination Oenothera caespitosa (primroses) and Mirabilis multiflora (Desert four o'clock) native to the West and Southwest united states.