Dear Dr. Wells,

Hello, my name is Lisa and I am hoping you can help me. I live in northwestern
Arkansas. I grow my own vegetables-- including alot of tomatoes.

Every year I find a few hornworms (both tobacco and tomato) on my tomatoes. Normally I am
not concerned about these guys--I just put them in an old blender with a couple of cups of
water for a minute or two, strain, and voila! anti-hornworm spray that works like a charm.

Ahh, but this year I happened to show a particularly vivid speciman of a tobacco hornworn to
my 10 year old son Kenny. Well, you may be able to guess what happened next. Yes we put
him (the M. sexta larva, that is) in a jar. And rather than saving my tomato plants I now found
myself in the odd position of harvesting my own plants to feed a larva that usually I consider a
fierce rival for them.

My question to you now is -- how do I overwinter this little critter? He has eaten his fill of my
tomato leaves and has gone to ground. That is, after finding out that the larva pupate in the
ground my son and moved him (or her) to larger quarters and filled the jar four-fifths (4/5) full
of soil. He is now in a plastic half-gallon jar with two layers of heavy duty foil over the top and
several small holes poked into the foil. I know that his time of pupation depends on ambient
temperture. Do I keep him in the fridge to hatch in the spring or will he be to cold, too long;
keep him in my son's room to hatch in 30-50 days (so I've read) then release him to try and
survive these Arkansas winters; or just dig a hole outside, put him and his surrounding soil in
it, and leave him to try and make it on his own?

Personally, I would like to see him hatched and released in the spring. Kenny would like to
see him hatch as well. I know I'm a little crazy to worry about a larva that I will only fight against
his offspring next year but I guess deep down I believe in the old Chinese saying that if you
save a life you are responsible for it. That, and Kenny sure thinks that hornworm is cool.

Thanks ever so much for your time,

Lisa