Tomato Plant Adventure

Tomato Hornworm

I found caterpillars in my vegetable garden today and asked this exact question:

What are Green caterpillar with white things on its back?

Answer: (from WikiAnswers)

"I can tell you it was either a tomato hornworm or a tobacco hornworm. Both are common in North America. Both get up to four inches long. And both like chomping tomato plants.

The tomato hornworm is the larva of the five-spotted hawk moth, Manduca quinquemaculata. It has eight curved white stripes on each side of its body and a straight black spike, or horn, on its bum.

The tobacco hornworm is the larva of the Carolina sphinx moth, Manduca sexta. It has seven diagonal white stripes, and its horn is curved and red.

Sometimes you'll see hornworms with little white things on them. The white things are wasp cocoons! Small, parasitic braconid wasps often lay their eggs on hornworms. The wasp larvae eat the hornworm's innards then form cocoons when they're done. Eventually they kill the hornworm. This is good for gardeners but not for the hornworm.
Hawk moths and sphinx moths are also called hummingbird moths. They're really good fliers. They hover while feeding on flowers. They look a lot like hummingbirds!

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