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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Transformation is Fun to See

So first it was baby birds, then bunnies, and now worms.  I'm starting to think I need a pet other than our goldfish, Dorothy.

A few weeks ago, Alexa and I found two gigantic tomato horn worms on my tomato plants.
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I didn't think to take a picture of the naughty worms myself.  Click here for Photo Source.

In one day, those two monsters ate through the entire top third of my container tomato.  Needless to say, I wasn't pleased.  But, I figured we'd make the best of it and turn it into an educational experience.   So, we stuck the little guys in glass jars with a few inches of dirt on the bottom and plenty of tomato leaves for them to chew on.  They ate through all those leaves and were about the size of my ring finger before burying themselves in the dirt to form a chrysalis.
The Chrysalis' after the Moth's emerged

Two weeks later, they emerged as five-spotted hawk moths.  After their wings dried, we let them go outside.


Most likely, they're out making babies that will ruin my tomato plants next year.  Anything for educational opportunities, right?

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