That guy eating your tomato is a hornworm. If you ever see one that looks like this, leave it alone. The white things are braconid wasp cocoons. Braconid wasps are parasitic (although calling them a wasp makes them sound scarier than they are to humans, the adults look like tiny winged ants and they drink flower nectar) and they lay their eggs inside the hornworm. They hatch, the larvae make these cocoons, and turn the hornworm into a zombie while they eat his insides.
Fun fact: tomato plants, when eaten by a hornworm, release a chemical compound that attracts these wasps.
The first year I gardened, I had several hornworms. I would pick them off and throw them over my fence. Then I found several like this, researched it, and let the wasps hatch. I also planted a ton of herbs and let them flower. Oregano, thyme, and sage, mostly. The wasps like tiny flowers. The next year, I had a few hornworms but they were immediately parasitized. I think I only saw one last year. It’s amazing how nature can balance itself out if you let it.
TechnicalLanguage895
Catching them live makes me a different level of mad
37iteW00t
No need to dump cancer causing chemicals, just pick them off
9 Comments
VENGEANCE!!!! I would have brought my chicken right over.
I see some Thuricide in their future
What will that kind of caterpillar turn into. That’s how I would decide its fate.
Pick them off* into a bucket of mildly soapy water.
*I can’t get myself to touch them 😬 so I use a stick lol
https://preview.redd.it/kevhgol40j5f1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=68b7e548a8cb5be31784586e313fac848bd61c56
Ooh it’s time for my favorite subject!!
That guy eating your tomato is a hornworm. If you ever see one that looks like this, leave it alone. The white things are braconid wasp cocoons. Braconid wasps are parasitic (although calling them a wasp makes them sound scarier than they are to humans, the adults look like tiny winged ants and they drink flower nectar) and they lay their eggs inside the hornworm. They hatch, the larvae make these cocoons, and turn the hornworm into a zombie while they eat his insides.
Fun fact: tomato plants, when eaten by a hornworm, release a chemical compound that attracts these wasps.
The first year I gardened, I had several hornworms. I would pick them off and throw them over my fence. Then I found several like this, researched it, and let the wasps hatch. I also planted a ton of herbs and let them flower. Oregano, thyme, and sage, mostly. The wasps like tiny flowers. The next year, I had a few hornworms but they were immediately parasitized. I think I only saw one last year. It’s amazing how nature can balance itself out if you let it.
Catching them live makes me a different level of mad
No need to dump cancer causing chemicals, just pick them off
Bastard! Straight to soapy water jail for you!
Chickens love them!