What do hornworms eat, what do hornworms eat

The hornworm is what we call the longhorn beetle.

The life history of the longhorn varies depending on the species, some complete the first or second generation in 1 year, and some take 2 3 or even 4 5 years to complete the first generation. In the same area, the amount of food and the age, dryness and wetness of the infested plants all affect the growth and development of larvae and the number of generations that occur. It usually overwinters in the trunk of a tree as a larvae or adult.

After the adult worm emerges, some need to supplement nutrition, eating pollen, young branches, young leaves, bark, sap or fruits, fungi, etc., and some do not need to supplement nutrition. The lifespan of adults is generally more than 10 days to 1 2 months; But adults overwinter in the pupal chamber for up to 7 to 8 months, and males have a shorter lifespan than females. The activity time of adults is related to the thickness and thinness of the small eye surface of the compound eye, which is generally thick, mostly active at night, and has phototaxis; Those with small eyes and thin faces are mostly active during the day.

The oviposition mode of adult worms is related to the form of mouthparts, and generally the adult of the anterior mouth type lays eggs directly into the rough bark or cracks when laying eggs; The adult worm with a lower mouth first bites into a groove on the trunk of the tree and lays its eggs in the groove. The longhorn beetle mainly feeds on larvae, lives the longest, and causes the most serious damage to the trunk. When the eggs hatch out of the larvae, the first instar larvae are bored into the trunk of the tree, initially feed under the bark, and after the inage increases, they burrow into the xylem for damage, and some species only stay under the bark to live, not into the xylem.

The larvae move within the trunk of the tree, and the shape and length of the moth-eating tunnels vary from species to species. The larvae feed on the trunk or branches, opening their mouths into the bark at a certain distance as vents, pushing out excrement and wood chips. When the larvae reach maturity, they form a wide pupal chamber, which is clogged with fibers and sawdust at both ends, and pupates in it.

The pupal stage is about 10-20 days.

The larvae of the longhorn beetle eat the trunk and branches, affecting the growth and development of the tree, weakening the tree, leading to the invasion of germs, and it is also easy to be broken by the wind. When the damage is severe, the whole plant dies, the wood is bored, and the process value is lost.

The landlord, the black horn insect aka: the heavenly cow.

What the longhorn beetle eats is as follows: The longhorn beetle feeds on pollen, young branches, young leaves, bark, sap or fruits, fungi, etc.

It is an agricultural pest.

The larvae eat the trunks and branches of trees.

I guess you caught one and raised it, that is, the adult worm, just feed some vegetable leaves.

Hornworms, also known as longhorn beetles, mainly eat woody plants, such as most of the pine, cypress, willow, elm, walnut, citrus, apple, peach and tea, etc., some of which are destroyed by cotton, wheat, corn, sorghum, sugarcane and hemp, etc., a few wood, buildings, houses and furniture, etc.

There are many species of longhorn beetle, more than 40,000 species are known in the world, and there are about 3,550 species in China, which are widely distributed and harmful, and almost every kind of tree is harmed by different species of longhorn beetle. The trees that suffered more damage were 28 species of mulberry trees, 25 species of willows and poplars, 18 species of citrus, and 23 species of pine trees. In addition to the star beetle and the mulberry beetle, there are also bare-shouldered star beetle, peach-necked beetle, white-tendoned beetle, red-edged longhorn, cloud-spotted white-striped longhorn, bamboo-edged tiger longhorn, deep mountain longhorn and so on.

Typical longhorn beetle species, the body is long cylindrical, the back is slightly flattened, the antennae are long, especially the more common ones, such as the star longhorn, mulberry longhorn, Yuntong loss spot white striped longhorn, etc., their strong body and protruding two horns, make people aware of the impression of the cow. In fact, the body size of the longhorn beetle is also quite varied, some of the antennae are shorter, some are oval or other shapes, and some imitate the image of other insects, such as the genus Rosa longhorn and the subfamily of the flower beetle, which are very similar to bees. The longhorn beetle is also known for its beautiful color, but many species are more or less tan, or arranged in spots, and the color of the trunk is oakish, and has the effect of concealing or protecting color.