Tobacco Hornworm

[fitzw]

We found one of these on one of our tomato plants yesterday:



The picture doesn't do justice to the visual impact of one of these things. It was fat and it was long (between three and four inches). And it blended in perfectly with the plant. You could be about a foot away from it and not see it because of the camouflage (which does wonders for your nerves when you suddenly recognize it for what it is, let me tell you).

For information about these things, see
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/hornworm.htm

Comments

[kellan_the_tabby]

*twitches*

*flails*

*runs off screaming*

(Yes, I was pretty sure I knew what it was going to be before I clicked. Still skeeves me out.)

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm the one who got to find it... about 8 inches away from my face :P

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

Skeeved us out pretty good, too.

And helwen was just reaching to trim off the stem that the thing was clinging to, too...

[flidaisairmid.livejournal.com]

Destructive little guys, but also quite beautiful. When we had our garden we would be on the lookout for them, and found a few. The week Lady's thumb id the food of the larva of their number one enemy if memory serves.

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

This is the first time I've encountered one of these things. We've searched the other plants as best we could, not finding any others, but given how difficult it was to see this one, I'm not reassured.

There's supposedly a type of wasp that has larvae that are parasitic to these things.

Have to do more reading...