Hornworms

[Labradors]

I spotted a dreaded hornworm on a Lucky Tiger leaf this morning. It was just a young one, about half an inch long, but I knew that I had to search for more. I found a bigger one on the Green Tiger plant next door which means that more than one batch of eggs was laid. A second trip to the garden yielded two more small caterpillars and a slightly bigger one on Blush, which is in a different row. So far, the plants with Potato Leaves don't seem to be popular.

I'd love to know if the eggs are laid in a clutch, or individually on different food plants. Guess I have my work cut out searching for these blighters every time I visit my tomatoes now. Last year, their droppings showed up before I spotted any caterpillars as I had some red plastic mulch around my plants. I didn't find that many caterpillars yet my plants survived .

Linda

[karstopography]

Single eggs.

Here’s a link.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/spe ... uemaculata

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant- ... iensis.htm

B.t. Works really well against these pests.

[Labradors]

Thanks Karstopography, I guess they lay them "singly" on different plants just to make my life more difficult!

BT would certainly be the answer........

Linda

[rdback]

A friend told me about using a black light flashlight at night to find them. I haven't tried it personally, but I hear it works. The flashlight can be found on Amazon for less than $20.

https://giantveggiegardener.com/2016/09 ... -at-night/

[Labradors]

Thanks rdback. I bought one on Amazon last year, but it turned out to be very small and was really difficult to use as it only illuminated a small area at a time. Not that I wouldn't use it though! I went out again in the evening, just before the storm, and found two more on different plants for a total of seven .

Linda

[Tormahto]

I haven't seen a hornworm in about 5 years (fingers crossed).

[Labradors]

I hadn't seen them in years either Tormato, then I had a few last year. I've found 11 as of today......

Linda

[Gardadore]

Hornworms haven’t appeared yet this summer but we have those special wasps that lay eggs on them which helps a lot to kill them before they get too far along.

[Labradors]

Braconid wasps. Yep. They can do a number on hornworms, but it's a slow and horrid death.

Linda

[Amateurinawe]

[mention]Labradors[/mention] Quite a lot of the natural insect world is full of what we think of as a horrid death. The slow eating from within sounds awful. If there are aliens out there, let's hope they're not of insect lineage..

[bower]

Speaking of horror...
https://phys.org/news/2021-02-horror-mo ... omato.html

[Ginger2778]

I haven't seen a hornworm in about 5 years (fingers crossed).

Ok, now you're just showing off.

[HL2601]

So a question for you all-
Is this a baby hornworm? They are munching holes and have been found on the underside of leaves. Have never encountered this size worm but certainly have had the large hornworms.

[MissS]

No those are not hornworms they are scoops which do plenty of damage. As they get larger they will start to eat the blossoms and fruit.

[Ginger2778]

Screenshot_20210721-225440.png

So a question for you all-
Is this a baby hornworm? They are munching holes and have been found on the underside of leaves. Have never encountered this size worm but certainly have had the large hornworms.

Yes indeed, these are 1st tomato hornworm instars. The little black horn, the body stripes, and the green color are dead giveaways.I found this great photo of various instate in a hornworm's life cycle.

[HL2601]

Whao-great picture! Thank you for posting!
They sure are devastating even in this small form.
I'll be out there again today picking them then transplanting far far away. If they are out of control I guess it may come to BT but I would like to avoid...

[Ginger2778]

Whao-great picture! Thank you for posting!
They sure are devastating even in this small form.
I'll be out there again today picking them then transplanting far far away. If they are out of control I guess it may come to BT but I would like to avoid...

Glad you like the picture. Dont worry too much about BT, it is completely harmless, organic accepted, and it's just bacteria commonly found in nature. It is totally safe for bees and other pollinators, pets, us, its only deadly if you are a caterpillar. They eat It and get an infection, they immediately stop eating because it upsets their digestive system, and they die in about a day.

[pondgardener]

[mention]HL2601[/mention] I'm about 100 miles south of you and fortunately have had no hornworms or caterpillars on any of my tomatoes for quite a few years. I had never heard of "scoops" but what little I found on a search could indicate that. I may have to start looking closer at my tomatoes as well...

https://en.tomathouse.com/borba-s-gusenicej-sovkoj.html

[karstopography]

I second B.T. as a great targeted Hornworm stopper. Monterrey brand is what I use. One liter handheld plastic solo brand sprayer set to a fine mist like spray. One gallon of mixed solution will cover 20 large mature tomato plants with some left over. I believe it is .75 ounces concentrate/gallon, whatever the label says. Not a “chemical” insecticide (everything is a chemical), but works like charm. I pick off the hornworms as I see them when there’s one or two, but the BT takes care of heavy infestations, those worms being very difficult to spot with those bizarre camouflage markings.

[Ginger2778]

I second B.T. as a great targeted Hornworm stopper. Monterrey brand is what I use. One liter handheld plastic solo brand sprayer set to a fine mist like spray. One gallon of mixed solution will cover 20 large mature tomato plants with some left over. I believe it is .75 ounces concentrate/gallon, whatever the label says. Not a “chemical” insecticide (everything is a chemical), but works like charm. I pick off the hornworms as I see them when there’s one or two, but the BT takes care of heavy infestations, those worms being very difficult to spot with those bizarre camouflage markings.

And the added advantage to spraying BT, it doesn't need super thorough coverage because they eat a lot of the leaf, so they only need to ingest a few bacteria, then those multiply inside the caterpillar. Just spray well, but dont get "obsessive ", lol!