David, your question has been answered in full in the Wildlife Forum.
:-)

David, your question has been answered in full in the Wildlife Forum.
:-)

well geez rhiz ..

first off.. you could have linked us..

and second.. to make it a short list.. what forums dont you follow.. lol...

who knew there is a wildlife forum ...

ken

:-) Ken, I haven't figured out how to attach links from my Kindle....and most days am unable to get upstairs to the office computer.

You sure have been the forum sheriff lately, lol.

Which of the Sphinx moths are you looking at? There are around 100 different Sphinx moths. The Carolina Sphinx and the Five Spotted Hawkmoth lay the eggs that become the Tomato/tobacco hornworm while the Hummingbird moth (also a Sphinx) will not since they prefer some other plant.
The link below gives you some of the Sphinx moths.

Here is a link that might be useful: some Sphinx moths

Kimmsr......read the original post. David has already identified his caterpillar as a Tobacco hornworm.

Tomatoes are part of a large family of plants, "Solanum" that includes Tobacco. A Tobacco hornworm will also munch on a tomato or even a pepper plant.
Of late I am seeing numerous sites linking the Tomato/tobacco hornworm to the Hummingbird moth which is also a member of the Sphinx moth family but the larva of this one feeds on cherry or plum trees, honeysuckle, snowberry and hawthorn, not tomato/tobacco plants.
Saying the mother moth of a tobacco hornworm is a Sphinx moth is correct but which one of the Sphinx Moths is it?

You are confused for some reason, are confusing the issue. Clearly, the OP had identified the Tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta.

Do you not believe that someone new to the gardenweb or new to gardening can utilize the internet in a useful manner? I know...it seems to be rare, but I am proud of David.

Sphingidae is a large family of moths. They are ALL correctly called Sphinx moths. Our OP plucked the caterpillars from his tomato plants and went to work finding a proper ID. The caterpillars of most (not all) Sphinx moths are hornworms and as a family, can be found on many kinds of plants. They tend to be host specific.

Now, Kimmsr.....there are hornworms that feed on Solanaceous plants. I have never seen Tobacco hornworm on anything but a tomato or datura or pepper. I have also never seen nor heard of nor read of any other kind of hornworm (Sphingidae) on those plants.

I hope that you have a better understanding, now. It can be confusing, for sure. But understanding the host /pest relationship with this particular moth family is extremely important. One can pretty much ID a hornworn if the host plant is identified....no picture of the caterpillar required.

In this instance, we had an OP who was one step ahead of the usual 'newbie '. David used the internet. All he wanted to know is if he planted some tobacco plants would the Manduca sexta lay eggs on those and stay away from his tomatoes.

Thank you for the name Manduca sexta! At a Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manduca_sexta

they said the adult is the Carolina sphinx moth. They also say:

"M. sexta has mechanisms for selectively sequestering and secreting the neurotoxin nicotine present in tobacco."

Which may mean that they do prefer tobacco if those that prefer it had offspring that could produce a defensive toxin from the tobacco and evolution caused things to go that way...