Hornworms

We have had a bit of buzz around our tomatoes lately. First we noticed some damage to a small section of our tomato plants.

Then I found the culprit and went straight to Google. Aaaah, Google. We learned we had a tobacco hornworm. I found the little guy not too long after his first instar; While I didn’t get a snapshot of it he was near the old cuticle and very small. He was green, about 1″ long, and about as big around in diameter as an ink refill for a ball point pen.

We were intrigued by him and what he is to become, so we decided to “sacrifice” one of our smaller tomato plants we had been nursing (it wasn’t growing well where it was) and remove it from the garden to put it in a patio pot and allow the caterpillar to have it for its home. Overnight it grew a bit more than double. My children were so surprised it grew that fast until the 5 year old and the 13 year old said in unison, “Well, it is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

In all our reading and youtube viewing we also learned a bit about the parasitic wasps and then awoke to find a very sad sight the next morning:

To the tomato grower this would be considered a good sign; the wasps are good for the garden in that they help with pollinating as well as getting rid of pests such as caterpillars. It is a pitiful thing to think about. The parasitic wasps lay their eggs under the skin of the caterpillar and hatch, attaching themselves to the caterpillar and feed off its insides. I tried to move the caterpillar to show the children what had happened and a few of the wasps larvae got knocked off and the caterpillar started oozing (bleeding?) and I felt so bad. I KNOW! But I adore what these little fat boogers become — the Hummingbird Moth.

Check out these photos of the Hawk Moth/Hummingbird Moth on flickr (listed by user ID): mizmoo’s, arjuno_zbycho’s, and look at this one I found on a blog, 5348 Franco’s.

I find myself so incredibly intrigued by these little guys. I think they are quite beautiful. It is a thing to behold the many creatures God has made. I really want a Hummingbird and butterfly garden. These moths are one of the creatures I’d love to attract to just such a garden.

Here are a few links if any of you want to see what all I am talking about. There is so much out there on these hornworms that I am only giving you a first stepping stone.

Tobacco Hornworms

Hornworms
Tobacco Hornworms

Tomato Hornworms

Tomato Hornworms (although a few photos show a tobacco hornworm)
Tomato Hornworms

Hawk Moth

Hawk Moth or Sphinx Moth
Sphingidae

And because we are a crazy homeschooling family tomorrow I’ll share with you our new hornworm ranch. (Hint: we have five eggs.) In the meantime for your viewing pleasure here is how quickly these little guys can eat:

Just because I think it is cool:

And the winner of the biggest caterpillar ever caught on camera is in Cornwall!