Black Tomatoe Hornworm!!??

[zeeknikki22]

So I've had my buddy for about a year now and I've dealt with tomato hornworns before but I noticed I had only one start to turn black, I separated it from the others as soon as I saw but now its body is completely black and the face and horn end are still lighter! I am very curious as to why it is black and not bright green like the rest of them. Can someone please give me some input?

 

[Dro B]

There is a black strain that GLH has but I don't beleive they sell them but it could be spontaneous, could be sick, mightve eaten something dark if possible, could be sick. If he is a black version, he should turn come tell black, but with regular chow I dont know if this is possible, but definitely keep him! Blacks aren't so rare that they'd be worth a fortune because they occur in the wild fairly regularly, but they are very cool and I'm sure people would like them for the novelty of it. Keep a small group, if it is genetic, the others may potentially be heterozygous if it's recessive. I know I'd buy them or trade for other feeders if it is natural and not a disease but I breed them I don't know if you do.

 

[PinkMommyX3]

What is looks like to me is an old shed that got stuck. I've had it happen many times.

 

[Dro B]

What is looks like to me is an old shed that got stuck. I've had it happen many times.

I though that at first, but that doesn't look like the case here.

 

[VeiledChams]

Looks like stuck molt to me

 

[MissMaisie]

I wish I could buy hornworms in the UK, they look so cute.

 

[Wowbango]

I agree that it's stuck molt.

 

[Dave Bolamperti]

Hey Zeeknikki22,
I have had a few black hornworms , I always thought they turned black because of the hornworm chow mixture, maybe the coloring agent used to make them teal or green coloration. Them eating a concentration of the colorant? I usually get my hornworms from Mullberry farms or Lindas gone buggie. Where did you get yours from? I did feed the black worms to my Chams with no issue. My hornworms always shed a white colored skin.
Dave

 

[Dro B]

This isn't stuck shed. I'd won't say 100% but 99%. black hornworms are somewhat common, go to GLH facebook halloween last year. There's also a white strain, I got one but it died just before pupating so I couldn't breed it.

 

[junglefries]

Need to grease it's hips and throw a twinkie in front of it (3rd grade joke)

Diagnosis: stuck molt

 

[zeeknikki22]

First off, just noticed I wrote tomatoE! -_- Second, thank you for the replies! I've been keeping an eye on it but I think I might have just got lucky with those one black one, they all eat the same food and were hatched from eggs! Super neat!

 

[junglefries]

Don't throw away. Wait it out. Could get lucky with a moth.

 

[Dro B]

This isn't suck shed because the vent is open. Stuck shed prevents them from passing frass.