Can tobacco hornworms bite?

Question

I have pet Tobacco hornworm caterpillars and love handling them. When I let my older brother hold my favorite caterpillar, Dot, and he held it for like 5 min. when he started saying "ow, OW, Ow it's biting me!". I checked and saw she looked stresed so put her back. I want to know if she really did bite him.

Answer 1

It's at least possible.  Hornworm larvae do have chewing mouthparts, including mandibles with teeth.  While they can make short work of a plant leaf, I don't think they'd have a lot of interest in a brother.

Have you seen the "All About Manduca" website?  http://manduca.entomology.wisc.edu/about...