Vanisle_BC
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Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

Unidentified coccoon

While turning over soil I'm finding a few of these. Anybody know what they are and are they beneficial, neutral or ???
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rainbowgardener
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oh yeah! I know because I posted a picture just like that here in Jan last year and people ID'd it for me: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/ ... on#p401335

It is the cocoon of the tomato hornworm, which will eventually become the beautiful sphinx moth, after it finishes destroying your tomatoes!

Vanisle_BC
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Posts: 1356
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:02 pm
Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

rainbowgardener wrote:oh yeah! I know because I posted a picture just like that here in Jan last year and people ID'd it for me: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/ ... on#p401335

It is the cocoon of the tomato hornworm, which will eventually become the beautiful sphinx moth, after it finishes destroying your tomatoes!
I hope you're mistaken; I'm not convinced (yet :)) but thanks for the heads-up. I've never seen that moth in my garden, or the caterpillar, and my coccoon is much smaller than the one in your photo. There seem to be several moths with similar-looking pupae but the hornworm one is supposed to have a 'crook-like projection' or 'jug-like handle'. This one doesn't have it so I'm waiting to see what happens next. Did the moth emerge from yours or the hornworm caterpillars show up on your plants?



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