Caterpilter

October 7, 2014 7:04 PM

What is this caterpillar-like beast eating my tomato leaves?

It's about 3 inches long. This is in California. Thanks!

posted by domnit to Pets & Animals (15 answers total)

It's a tomato hornworm.
posted by Wavelet at 7:07 PM on October 7, 2014

Yep, tomato hornworm.
posted by brianogilvie at 7:10 PM on October 7, 2014

HA HA HA HA HA WRONG IT'S A TOBACCO HORNWORM! IN YOUR FACE!
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:12 PM on October 7, 2014

By which I mean me being the winner, not that the worm is literally inside your face.
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:13 PM on October 7, 2014

Seconding tobacco hornworm.
posted by deezil at 7:23 PM on October 7, 2014

Good lord, those droppings I saw the other day came from an insect?!

I done smashed the monster.
posted by domnit at 7:23 PM on October 7, 2014

Oh :-(
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:34 PM on October 7, 2014

Hornworms are often kept as pets by children. They eventually become Sphinx moths. There is really no need to smash them.
posted by HuronBob at 7:45 PM on October 7, 2014

D'oh, sorry turbid dahlia, I feel bad now. Although I'm not sure where I could have moved it where it wouldn't just come back or eat someone else's garden.
posted by domnit at 8:06 PM on October 7, 2014

Assuming you're growing tomatoes for a purpose other than feeding caterpillars, don't feel bad. If you're lucky you might see evidence of Braconid wasps helping out with any of its friends.
posted by exogenous at 8:14 PM on October 7, 2014

I can confirm that tomato hornworms are chickens' absolute favorite snack so if any of your neighbors have yard fowl, march 'em on over for a tasty treat.

(Also with white chickens it stains their feathers and beak-area with green ichor like some kind of weird bug-murdering serial killer, which is satisfying... I might have a vendetta against these guys, since I once picked 56 of them out of a tomato patch in Missouri in one morning.)
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:40 PM on October 7, 2014

Don't feel bad about smashing it. They're incredibly destructive and your tomatoes aren't it's only habitat; they aren't exactly rare. It's not like smashing them isn't part of the circle of life any less than feeding them to the chickens or rooting for Braconid wasps.
posted by kjs3 at 9:24 PM on October 7, 2014

You can prevent them next year by planting an open-ended tin can or solo cup with the bottom cut out around the base of each plant.
posted by headspace at 6:21 AM on October 8, 2014

If you intend to have tomatoes to eat, smash the monster.

Though, I have to say that seeing Braconid wasps do their thing on a hornworm is utterly fascinating in a nature-as-a-horror-movie kind of way, and well worth witnessing at least once.
posted by desuetude at 9:07 AM on October 8, 2014

You can prevent them next year by planting an open-ended tin can or solo cup with the bottom cut out around the base of each plant.

Hmmm, this is what I do for cut worms. Didn't realize it had other benefits. We haven't had hornworms in years, either. Hooray for coffee cans.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:10 PM on October 8, 2014