I thought I’d escaped notice from the pests since I have a very modest garden this year, but no. This guy is on my globe eggplant but his little buddy managed to eat half my cherry tomato overnight before I interrupted his breakfast.
Rude of him to show up uninvited; you have my sympathy there. But the entomologist in me is also stoked—this dude will become a giant sphinx moth, with a body the size of your pinky finger! Bugs are cool as hell, it’s such a shame that they thrive by massacring carefully tended gardens.
contentlove
That’s a cocoon! A good problem to have! Sorry about your tomato but I’d be psyched!
NoConnection5785
Pollinators are not pests. Gently move them elsewhere so they can finish their life cycles and contribute to maintaining a healthy ecosystem for your house. One cherry tomato is cheap rent for the work they do for you.
juliejetson
I’ve started growing a sacrificial tomato plant for them. The moths are gorgeous. They like nightshades, so lots of options for host plants to allow their lifecycle to continue. Really glad to see the comments in here that AREN’T jumping straight to “kill it!” I think the old school gardener “kill everything not plant” thinking is slowly phasing out in favor of creating an ecosystem, and I’m here for it 🙂
Earthlight_Mushroom
A very good way to hunt them is with a UV flashlight at night, since the worms reflect a different color than the plants. Otherwise they are extremely well camouflaged, especially on tomato. Even with an ordinary flashlight, you will find a lot more at night, since the worms come out on the tops of the plants to munch, and then hide down lower in the heat of the day.
austinteddy3
I always plant one tomato plant to act as a housing project for these chewers. I plant it isolated from the main group of tomatoes. If I find one, I transfer it to the housing project and let it run its course. So far I have only required a single plant for the interlopers. Works well.
Look_You_Dumb_Shit
Feed them to the veiled chameleon! 😝
Texas_Naturalist
These also eat Datura, so I usually move these over where they can much away without eating my food garden.
1dRR
Funny thing, when my brother and I were little kids, he would collect a couple of hornworms as pets. Once he was doing a show and tell for one of my cousins and my brother went to kiss the hornworm and it bit his lower lip and hung on. That hornworm just dangled from his lower lip and we laughed hysterically. Now that my brother is in his 60s and has a family, we tease him about it. He will never live that story down. 🐛
isurus79
Your tomato plant likely won’t produce much anymore. I often leave them to the hornworms this time of year. You should already have the next batch of tomatoes growing in a pot for transplant into the garden in August for fall harvest.
11 Comments
Is friend… turns into a big beautiful moth
Rude of him to show up uninvited; you have my sympathy there. But the entomologist in me is also stoked—this dude will become a giant sphinx moth, with a body the size of your pinky finger! Bugs are cool as hell, it’s such a shame that they thrive by massacring carefully tended gardens.
That’s a cocoon! A good problem to have! Sorry about your tomato but I’d be psyched!
Pollinators are not pests. Gently move them elsewhere so they can finish their life cycles and contribute to maintaining a healthy ecosystem for your house. One cherry tomato is cheap rent for the work they do for you.
I’ve started growing a sacrificial tomato plant for them. The moths are gorgeous. They like nightshades, so lots of options for host plants to allow their lifecycle to continue. Really glad to see the comments in here that AREN’T jumping straight to “kill it!” I think the old school gardener “kill everything not plant” thinking is slowly phasing out in favor of creating an ecosystem, and I’m here for it 🙂
A very good way to hunt them is with a UV flashlight at night, since the worms reflect a different color than the plants. Otherwise they are extremely well camouflaged, especially on tomato. Even with an ordinary flashlight, you will find a lot more at night, since the worms come out on the tops of the plants to munch, and then hide down lower in the heat of the day.
I always plant one tomato plant to act as a housing project for these chewers. I plant it isolated from the main group of tomatoes. If I find one, I transfer it to the housing project and let it run its course. So far I have only required a single plant for the interlopers. Works well.
Feed them to the veiled chameleon! 😝
These also eat Datura, so I usually move these over where they can much away without eating my food garden.
Funny thing, when my brother and I were little kids, he would collect a couple of hornworms as pets. Once he was doing a show and tell for one of my cousins and my brother went to kiss the hornworm and it bit his lower lip and hung on. That hornworm just dangled from his lower lip and we laughed hysterically. Now that my brother is in his 60s and has a family, we tease him about it. He will never live that story down. 🐛
Your tomato plant likely won’t produce much anymore. I often leave them to the hornworms this time of year. You should already have the next batch of tomatoes growing in a pot for transplant into the garden in August for fall harvest.