What do these two creatures have in common? They’re ... the same creature. The Tomato Hornworm, bane of every gardener, joy of every chicken, horror of everyone creeped out by the effects of parisitoid wasps. If it survives the barrage of angry gardeners, hungry chickens, and sticky wasp eggs long enough to pupate, it will hatch out into a Five-Spotted Hawk Moth, which is something really beautiful. The soft, cryptic gray fluff? The striking but tasteful row of orange blotches? The mysterious dark eyeline? The elegantly tapered wings? The perfect size, a whole handful of moth. It’s just so wonderful. I almost feel like it’s worth it to sacrifice a tomato plant just to see that glorious moth. Perhaps one could be captured and raised indoors, like I have done with Black Swallowtails... the thought is tempting.
On another note, I recently discovered the Latin name for this species: Manduca quinquemaculata. “quinquemaculata” means “five spots” and presumably refers to the five fine orange spots on the side of the adult, also referenced in the moth’s common name, “Five-Spotted Hawk Moth.” I am curious as to whether the number of these spots is distinct to the species; considering the focus its names places on the number, I would guess so. But is this a useful identifying characteristic? Are there other hawkmoths that look very similar except for having six spots, or four? What might their caterpillars look like? What do they eat?
This Latin name also reminds me how much I love the Latin word for five - Quinque, pronounced “kwin-kway.” It’s just such a cute word, and so different from most other number names, which are generally not nearly as cute. Even other Romance languages’ words for “five” pale in comparison. It also makes me think about Tokyo Ghoul (which I am reading right now - it is very good), and the “quinque” weapon that ghoul investigators use. There’s no way that they didn’t get that name from Latin, but I have to ask, why? It seems an odd choice of etymology. What does the quinque weapon have to do with the number five? I guess it could represent the number of types of kagune that they can be made of, but there are only four of those. Perhaps there is some hidden meaning that I have to read further to find out... foreshadowing a fifth type of kagune, or at least a fifth type of quinque? Who knows, I am ... definitely overthinking it.
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