I run across these interesting pupa now and then when I dig around in my garden in the spring. They are the Five Spotted Hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculatus, and the Carolina Sphinx, Manduca sexta. The “handle” on the right side is actually a sheath protecting the developing proboscis – that certainly gives you an idea of the size of the moth … You can bury the pupa in loose soil at the bottom of a screened box and see what hatches in a few weeks or next spring. Its color, though, is more of an olive green that the iridescent blue-green of a hummingbird. They're hard and shiny, seemingly sound asleep, but then the tail end begins to rotate slowly when you pick the pupa up. As a point of correction, a chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly and the pupa of a moth is not referred to as a chrysalis. As an adult moth, I drink nectar from flowers. Many moths pupate underground and the pupae look quite similar, but those with a “handle” to contain the proboscis are the Sphinx Pupae exactly as you indicated. There are two species found in your area that feed on plants in the tomato family Solanacea. That moth seems pretty harmless. Privet Hawk-moth Sphinx ligustri Linnaeus, 1758. Others may have observed adult sphinx moths feeding on sacred datura, petunias, thistles, evening primroses, honeysuckle, verbena, salvia, Nicotiana, four-o-clocks, and other nectar producing flowers. They eat the leaves of various deciduous trees like birch, poplar, black cherry, willow and basswood. Some sphinx moths nectar on pale, deep flowers, employing an unusually long proboscis. They have the longest tongue of any moth or butterfly. The Caterpillars, Pupae and adult moths … From left to right: Egg, new hatchling with forked "tail", third instar, and caterpillar close to pupation. Blinded Sphinx Moth caterpillars are soft and green. It looks like a hummingbird as it flits from flower to flower in summer. Sphinx moths have unusually long proboscises to access even the trickiest flower; in fact, the longest proboscis in the world belongs to a sphinx moth from Madagascar, measuring at 11 inches long! Sphinx Moth. It’s quite big, several inches long and thicker than my thumb, and the segmented end tends to wiggle when you touch it. My Home: I am found worldwide. Dear Karen, This is a Sphinx Moth Pupa from the genus Mandeca and we are guessing you found it in the vegetable patch near where tomato plants are grown. I primarily hide during the day and emerge at dusk or during the early morning hours.. What I eat: As a caterpillar, I eat the leaves and stems of plants. As long as it's not the sphinx moth (whose beauty, I have to admit, almost makes me forgive them for their very minor depradations on our tomatoes.)

The proboscis of certain Sphingidae species can measure a full 12 inches long. The hummingbird moth (hawkmoth) is a common sphinx moth. The website you linked to does look the most like my pupa of all the ones I've perused! The young caterpillars blend in well among green foliage and are hopefully overlooked by hungry birds and parasitic wasps. As autumn approaches, the huge hornworm caterpillars leave the plant and burrow into the soil to morph into a pupa. The similarly-striped hindwings are often concealed. They are safe to handle despite the soft horn, or spike, at the rear. Wingspan 90-120 mm.

They may be hawk or sphinx moth pupa, but I'll have to hatch one out to be sure.