I just found a HUGE caterpillar in my tomato plants. It's probably an inch thick and probably 5 inches long. It is all green and then has like little blue "eyes" (eyes like a butterfly has on it's wings) all down the side of it. it doesn't have any spikes or anything like that, just a smooth body, but it's head looks like a pugs (the dog) head because the skin is kinda folded up on his head. I live in Utah so it can't be any tropical kind of caterpillar. Does anyone know what kind of a caterpillar is it? Thanks a Million!
2007-07-07 06:29:18 · 5 answers · asked by Midian 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
oh, actually it does have one spike, it's on it's butt, and also it has white lines on it's side also right next to the "eyes". Sorry i didn't state that before.
2007-07-07 06:37:51 · update #1
Sounds like a tomato horn worm. Is this your caterpillar? Here is a picture of a tomato horn worm with parasitic wasp eggs attached.
http://www.gardengrapevine.com/TomatoWorm.html
Although the tomato horn worm is bad for your tomatoes they are very good for the predatory wasp who are essential to a healthy garden. Just pick them off your tomatoes and discard.
Better yet, build a caterpillar nursery and watch it emerge as a huge hawk moth.
2007-07-07 06:48:45 · answer #1 · answered by Sptfyr 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Probably a Spinx Moth caterpillar. Most of them are just about scorching-puppy sized, often inexperienced with a few neat styles and of path just a little backbone coming off the hind finish. I could appear up sphinx moths first, and spot what you'll be able to arise with. Simply fit an picture to the specimen you discovered for a confident ID, but additionally preserve in brain the position wherein you discovered it, the sort of tree it used to be on (or close) Hope this is helping!
2016-09-05 18:11:50 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The tomato hornworm is the larva of the hawk moth. it has a black appendage that resembles a horn.It is three to four inches long and is green with light white stripes running at an angle along each side of it's body.
The larva feed heavily on foliage and fruit. They are camouflaged by the leaves due to their green color. they breed one or two generations a year.
They affect eggplant, pepper, potato,and tomato
their are two controls found in nature : Trichogramma wasps and Braconid wasps. the best non pesticide method is to handpick them.
You may spray or dust with nontoxic Bacillus thuringiensis, sold as Dipel,or Bt, and thurnicide.
2007-07-07 06:58:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tomato hornworm.
If you know anyone who owns bearded dragons, chameleons or even chickens, he'll worship you for feeding his animals! They sell for at least a buck each when they have them at reptile shows.
Very nutritious for pet reptiles! Pick them and sell them! Put an ad where reptile lovers will see it
2007-07-07 06:50:37 · answer #4 · answered by TURANDOT 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is a tomato horn worm. Just pick them off before they devourer your entire plant.
2007-07-07 06:45:44 · answer #5 · answered by Koko 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋