Hornworms not on tomatoe plant.

I know that wild hornworms are toxic to feed off but in my yard we have a "purple potato tree" (lady at the nursery said thats what its called) and its been getting eaten up lately. I went to take a look at it only to find huge juicy hornworms all over it....I dont know if this plant is toxic or not but I dont think Ill feed any off just to be safe rather than sorry. I also found a ton of eggs which I gathered like 10 of, these are OK to feed off when they hatch if they eat hw chow or bell peppers (until I get the chow) correct? Im just curious if these are a different type of hornworms and if possibly they are safe to eat...I took some pics but somehow my camera card is missing and my camera still took the pics ....heres a pic I found online of the plant.



I couldnt find a good pic of the leaves because apparantly alot of plants similar to this one are called "purple potato tree"

I've read that if you feed the hornworms a safe plant such as bell pepers or chow for a week, everything veg it ate before will be well clear of the guts.

Parasites may still be an issue.

Thanks Sandra I've always heard once they've eaten the toxic plant they're unfeedable. I don't even know if the plants toxic....I'm assuming it is.

sandrachameleon said:

I've read that if you feed the hornworms a safe plant such as bell pepers or chow for a week, everything veg it ate before will be well clear of the guts.

Parasites may still be an issue.

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Hmm thats interesting Sandra thanks for sharing

I only READ this, I've not done it myself. So I cant say for sure this is a safe thing to do. Here's a website that I find otherwise reliable, where it suggests using bell peper:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060503233712/www.chameleonjournals.com/husbandry/

I've read the same thing to, thats way some people feed feeders greens if they catch it outside.

Fallacies

Potato plants are highly toxic. Hornworms retain any toxins they ingest feeding of other items after they have already ingested toxins will halt further assimilation of toxins but does not get rid of any already in their system, much like systemic pesticides used for plants. Any new growth might not have it but any growth that has it will always have it.

Unripe tomatos, bell peppers and carrots can all be fed among other things. The eggs you found on the plant can be fine to use as long as they are hatched away from the potato plant. You dont want them to have a chance to eat any of the toxic stuff.

As to the post concerning feeding them other items for a week the toxins are still there its just that the hornworm has grown so much yet not added new toxins.

Digby Rigby [email protected]

That website is so helpful now I can find some bugs outside and use them as feeders. Thanks for sharing.

Thats what I was always told, I gathered a bunch eggs and Ive got them sitting in a petri dish in my garage (nice and warm).

MIght as well buy a pound of chow to go with it. By the way if you did not know silkworm chow and goliath worm chow is the same.

-Clemonde

Not Really

Not really. Silkworm chow is pretty much powdered mulberry leaves. Hornworm chow is different. However there are some places that take short cuts and basically just add food coloring to the hornworm chow to make it green. However you do posit an interesting question. What would happen if we fed mulberry leaves to hornworms?

Digby Rigby [email protected]

My hornworms just hatched out and Ive been feeding them bell peppers. I have heard of people feeding silkworms hornworm chow.

Digby Rigby said:

Not really. Silkworm chow is pretty much powdered mulberry leaves. Hornworm chow is different. However there are some places that take short cuts and basically just add food coloring to the hornworm chow to make it green. However you do posit an interesting question. What would happen if we fed mulberry leaves to hornworms?

Digby Rigby [email protected]

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True silkworm chow is made mostly of mulberry leaves. Hornworm chow is silkworm chow, same thing same ingredient. Mulberry farms just sells silkworm chow and hornworm chow in different sections and put a different sticker on the packaging. You can also feed mulberry leaves to hornworms the cons about doing that is they don't stay as hard and don't seem to be filled with much juice, as they are when on the chow. They become a bit more softer and take a bit longer to grow. I have never herd of any company putting food coloring in there chow for the hornworms. If they do that may be just to alter the color of the hornworms.

-Clemonde

Thats just a cheap way out

Feed Hornworms chow designed for them. Hornworms and silkworms have nothing in common. Other places do make make silkworm specific and hornworm specific chow. My previous statements are correct in their entirety

Digby Rigby [email protected]

Digby Rigby said:

Feed Hornworms chow designed for them. Hornworms and silkworms have nothing in common. Other places do make make silkworm specific and hornworm specific chow. My previous statements are correct in their entirety

Digby Rigby [email protected]

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I have raised hornworms from egg to cocoon off of silkworm chow and mulberry leaves and had no problems, the hawk moths even hatched out perfectly. I don't see a difference in silkworm chow or mulberry chow. Would you be able to show me where you are getting your information from? Ive been trying to find any info or proof of this, and would like to know the difference in the two chows.

-Clemonde

I don't know where digby rigby is getting info from... One of the big dealers of HWs raises all of their HWs on silk chow. Yes there is HW chow... but they will do just fine on the mulberry chow.

Immaterial

To say someone does something does not mean it is right or the most efficient way. Go to the manduca project website. Go to one of the sponsors here and ask him if his hornworm chow is made from the same thing as the silkworms chow. To say one of the big dealers does something in and of itself has nothing to do with quality but more to do with convenience and economy. Most large breeders also use frozen rodents when live or fresh is nutritionally superior. Its just a matter of people willing to make sacrifices for the sake of economy and ease of use. Many people have also said they use crickets and mealworms "and they do fine" as opposed to roaches and other things. More to the point where are you getting your information that says silkworm chow is equal or superior to hornworm specific chow?

Digby Rigby [email protected]

if HWs will grow to maturity and there isn't anyting in the chow that is bad for the chameleon, why would that not be fine?