Tobacco hornworm
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| Tobacco hornworm | ||||||||||||||||
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| Manduca sexta Linnaeus, 1763 |
Tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta) are moths of the Sphingidae family common throughout the American continent. The caterpillar feeds on tobacco or tomato leaves (Solanaceae) and has mechanisms for selectively sequestering and secreting the neuro-toxic nicotine present in tobacco.
The tobacco hornworm is used in a variety of bio-medical and biological scientific experiments. It can be easily raised on a wheat-germ based diet. The larva is large and thus relatively easy to dissect and isolate organs from.