Assuming I ever find one again here, I'm definitely going to #1 look at it a lot more closely, and #2 stick it in a jar to see what hatches !

stone said:If you are finding them in the veggie patch... I think that tomato horn worm (manducca sexta) is likely.
They're not the gorgeous hummingbird moth...
But they are still very cool.
I took some pictures last year...
http://gardens-in-the-sand.blo...
Stone-those photos are outstanding! I have tried to get photos showing them gathering nectar for years and been unsuccessful. I LOVE your photos
When I get caterpillars on the tomatoes, I might move them to the datura... Or to the black nightshade... They will often show up on the alternate host plants without my help. :)

Moonhowl said: Toni, I thought you might find this link useful to you. Celia is right, it is probably one of the "hawkmoth" pupas. This link catalogs all the moths found in the PNW and has great pictures.

http://pnwmoths.biol.wwu.edu/

That link is awesome. I have never seen that site before. I am looking forward to opening it on my laptop as it has somuch info it is a little overwhelming on my phone. for posting

You are very welcome. It is pretty in addition to being informative..

Well this pupa transformation is taking forever. I have two of these jars on the kitchen table

Waiting is hard. I was thinking about this a few days ago.

I am kind of excited to see what develops. One is black and smaller than the brown one.

I am still waiting ~ Do you think they really will open up, or did I put them in the wrong environment? They are in a little dirt in a canning jar with cheese cloth covering the opening.....

Heat and light may be the triggers to cause them to open

If you poke a couple of small holes in the cheesecloth and put it outside in a shady area? Might that help? Or is it already out?

I'm thinking you have a beetle pupa, not a moth...

I just had a look at "beetle pupa' and they do look alike. Hmmm...

Could very well be, however when you search, both moth and beetle images show up together.
The link below asked for Beetle pupa...got both

https://images.search.yahoo.co...

When you found them were they in the dark? the shade? under the soil? under a pot? damp or dry?
Maybe you need to recreate the atmosphere where they were found?

I'll be honest, I've never hatched one, but pupa that as far as I can tell are extremely common here, I've always been told that those pupa belong to what we always called church beetles, I call em weed eater beetles, they sound like a weed eater when they dive bomb you, their awkward and tangle in your hair.
The best I can tell its "proper common name"( if there's such a thing) is a May beetle, or June beetle, or course here we have a different beetle that goes by that common name.
To the best of my understanding they are all scarab beetles, I go rustle one of the beetles that I think the pupa belongs too.
Again, I've not hatched one to prove it!

If you compare the pupa of a scarab beetle:
http://www.insectimages.org/br...

with that of a Noctuidae moth (e.g. cutworm, armyworm etc.):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

It looks more like the moth pupa to me. I did "hatch" one and it definitely turned into a moth - it somehow escaped and went flapping around the house. DH was not amused

The current pupa may just need to wait for what, to it, is the right time to emerge. I don't know what the cues are, it seems a little early for it to require chilling. It could be a combination of daylength and temperature - since we don't know what it is it isn't possible to look up any specific requirements. I guess waiting it out is the only option.

An escaped anything in this house wouldn't last long. Two cats would be all over it.

Yea, it probably is a moth...

We are still waiting. I tried to replicate their environment in as much as scoop some of the soil they were living in and put it in the jar. Because it is spring (wet) here in Oregon, I have been spraying lightly once in a while... I sure didn’t think it would take them this long. I do have them in the house on the kitchen table by the window and my grow lights for the pepper plants.
Thank you to all of you for your helpful input
If they do open, I will post pic.

Here is an update! The brown pupa hatched! I didn't get to watch it happen but I found this in the jar this morning!




I do apologize for the poor quality photo.
Now I just wait for the blackish pupa to open
Thank you all for talking me into putting it in a jar to find out what it is. Now off to bug guide to see if I can match it up.