Looks like that cat could use some help. My guess is the ground was too hard to dig in. If you're game, say so and I'll give a recommendation.

Thank you for the offer and your timing is perfect. I relocated him yesterday (will explain below), hopefully I did not make things worse.

I am a reformed caterpillar hater - not all caterpillars but the ones that cause problems in the garden like cutworms and hornworms, and hater is too strong of a word but hopefully you get my drift. Upon discovering a crawly creature on my plant, I've gone from cutting the leaf and tossing it far away from my vegetable plant, to cutting the plant and walking it over to a shady area and adding a few more pruned leaves and then a couple of days ago I started putting them in a wet vac canister with pruned leaves. Not sure if that is the right thing, any input is appreciated. I put 3 hornworms in the canister but one was not moving so I'm not even sure if I located 3 living caterpillars As of yesterday I saw 2 hornworms eating their hearts out and when I went to check not too long ago one was sitting on top of the leaves. I did not see the others but I did not look any deeper either.

Now that me brings me to the big, red guy. When I came across him yesterday my initial thought was to add him to wet vac canister but I did not because he had white marks on him and I was not sure if those were markings or parasitic wasp larvae so I decided to put him in my compost bin which is really just a big tub and sits next to the wet vac. When I went to pick him up I discovered that the end that is under the leaves in the above picture is smashed up, I am guessing that he probably was in the tree, fell from the tree and got hurt, I don't even know if this guy has been mortally wounded but I'm invested now. Later yesterday I threw a few handfuls of leaves in the wet vac and the compost bin thinking that it may provide cover from predators, I noticed flying insects near where I discovered him and also near the compost bin but not sure if they are predators.

I did not see the big, red guy yesterday when I added the leaves nor did I see him today, but I did not dig around looking for him. I did a quick online search and discovered that the Imperial Moth caterpillars dig in the ground to pupate and it seems likely that he did that in the compost bin. So my question in all this is, assuming an optimistic scenario and he is not mortally wounded, is there an estimate as to when this guy will emerge as a moth. The reason I asked is that while I will continue to add food scraps and leaves to my compost bin I will hold off stirring the compost bin to give the guy a chance to transition. How long does it take for him to transition? I just want to throw this situation out there, to get guidance, as I said I am now invested and want to see if there is anything I need to doing differently as it relates to the ig, red guy or the hornworms.

Thanks.

If it is able to pupate, the moth would emerge next year or 2018.

If you can find it, bring it inside. Put it in a container with at least a thin layer of dirt. It will pupate on top of the dirt. It can also pupate without the dirt but I have better luck with the dirt. Try to limit the light it experiences to what it would get outside. Some folks recommend a room that gets very little light but I have not found that helps.

If you get that far, I'll give you some more info.

OK well I guess this means I'm going to go digging through my compost container. I'll do that tomorrow. I have mayo jars which I will fill half way. Can I use compost, potting mix, horse manure or a combination as dirt. I have better native dirt than what you see in the picture but even that is not easy to dig up.

Any thoughts or tips about the hornworms? Do you have an estimate on the time it takes for them to become adults?

Thank you.

Hornworm moths would be out next year.

Just dirt dirt. :) It is past being able to dig. Only need enough so that it does not feel the glass.

I also plan on telling you how to overwinter in the fridge and that does not involve dirt.

Great eyesight Annie! Thanks for not wet vac-ing it : ) Good luck : )

2018!!!

OK the red guy is still alive and has re-appeared on the surface my compost tub. I did not get his mayo jar condo ready for him because I wasn't sure that he'd make it but I will do that later today or tomorrow.

Re the hornworms I read that they also burrow so I'm going to add some dirt, compost and/or potting mix to the wet vac canister and hopefully that, and the tomato leaves and tree leaves, will be good enough.

OK I moved him to his condo but I am not sure if he is still alive, he did not move at all during the transfer and is now a brownish color.

Imperial will lay on top of the dirt for a number of days before pupating. Wish I could tell you how many but I have not bothered to pay attention.