Tobacco Hornworm
by Kelly Hazel
Title
Tobacco Hornworm
Artist
Kelly Hazel
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The Tobacco Hornworm is common in the Southern United States.
Manduca sexta is a moth of the family Sphingidae present through much of the American continent. Commonly known as the tobacco hornworm and the goliath worm, it is closely related to and often confused with the very similar tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata); the larvae of both feed on the foliage of various plants of the family Solanaceae. The tobacco hornworm is sometimes kept as a pet by children throughout its range. It can be distinguished by its seven diagonal lines on its sides; tomato hornworms have eight V-shaped markings.[2] A mnemonic to remember the markings is tobacco hornworms have straight white lines like cigarettes, while tomato hornworms have V-shaped markings (as in "vine-ripened" tomatoes). M. sexta has mechanisms for selectively sequestering and secreting the neurotoxin nicotine present in tobacco.[citation needed]
M. sexta is a common model organism, especially in neurobiology, due to its easily accessible nervous system and short life cycle. It is used in a variety of biomedical and biological scientific experiments. It can be easily raised on a wheat-germ based diet. The larva is large, and thus it is relatively easy to dissect it and isolate its organs.
Information from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manduca_sexta
Uploaded
October 1st, 2013
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