Big, fat, green worm

Help! What is it, and how do I get rid of it. Found three on my Brugmansia (I think that's what it's called)--completely stripped one whole branch/stem. I spray with Ortho. One of my tomato bushes looks the same way, but I couldn't spot this monster or anything on it. Of course, being green on green it would be very hard to see. I've used the liquid seven on the tomatoes. Is there something better? It has a big horn on the top of it's head. Does it sting. My son pulled them off with a pair on tongs, which they really seemed to fight. Ugh! Eeeeeuuuuweeee......

The best thing is to pick them off the plant, it is the Tomato Hornworm.

Yes, it is the tomato hornworm. I don't believe it stings. I noticed they moved onto my tomatoes last night. I picked tons of tiny ones off and need to get out there this am and look for more. Where the heck do they come from? Anyway, I choose not to use chemicals so inspect and remove them plunging them into a bucket of soapy water. Look closely at your plants... especially the underside of the leaves. You won't notice these buggers till they are pudgy. But by then, all the tomato foliage has been devoured. They will turn into the hummingbird moth which is pretty but... I prefer my tomatoes. Good luck! pod

Hello Sybil...
Welcome to our Butterfly forum! Just pick them and place them in the freezer instead of spraying. There is usually not too many of them, but if you don't notice them until they get large, they can consume a lot of the plant. I have a couple big Datura that I can put them on if I find them. Spraying may kill some of your butterfly caterpillars or ladybugs etc.

My freeezer?!!!! I couldn't do it. Not in a million years. They are sooooo ugly. Why? I would faint if I pulled out a Zip Lock of those worms by mistake. Do you use them for fish bait or what? Sorry, I'm an ole farm girl, but I wouldn't even bring them in the house, much less my kitchen. I do still have three in a pan outside, though. I need to do something with them. syb

ROFLOL!!! Wrap them in a paper towel and mark the bag. It only takes an hour and they will be gone and can be thrown away.
But if you can't just toss them in a field. They will pupate if they are large enough, or be lunch for a bird.

AhHah, someone else with these troublesome critters. I've battled them all season on my tomatoes and they can eat A BUNCH! They are the caterpillar stage of the Hummingbird Moth. The moth is a very interesting one and looks like baby hummingbirds when in flight. I love the moth, but not enough to let the caterpillars destroy my whole tomato crop. There is a product that is environmentally friendly made by Safer called Caterpillar Killer. It's active ingredient is BT and it works. I found it at Lowe's. You do have to spray often. I sprayed every 3rd day, but I had a pretty huge crop of them.

Good luck.
Crow

When there was a webworm infestation a couple years ago, people went nuts spraying the BT and the following year we had very few butterflies or bees. I can't help but think there is a connection. Just MHO.

Larval stage of the sphinx moth: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=sphinx%20moths&sa=N&tab=wi&um=1

They'll devour your plants, but the moths are gorgeous. They're mostly out at dusk/night.

We just eradicated one on my lemon balm tonight. It practically ate all of it in a day! We (Mark) cuts them with the hand held pruners. Me? I tell him where they are to go take care of them! LOL

Arghh~ lemon balm??? I have removed a ton of these guys on the tomatoes in the past two days. They are all small but growing... I inspected the Brugs but need to check the herbs now I guess.

Is there anything else these things like besides the Brugs (and boy, do they like them!) and tomatoes? I couldn't get back outside today to check my plants, but I'll do it tomorrow for sure. I just hope they haven't carried the place off by then. Eyewee, they're soooo fat. We found three that were four to five inches long. I was the finder, and my son was the picker. No way I could do that (this sounds so funny coming from me), but it scared me so when I first saw them. I just hope I don't dream about them.

Thanks to all for your help. So much information. You guys are great.

Syb

Do these fellas do their dastardly deeds at night or in the day time? My brugs are pretty shaded, but the maters are in full time sun, and I hardly see how the fatties could keep from burning up in the heat. If they do it at night, where do they go in the day time?

I couldn't find any today, and I looked at about 10am.

Syb

I don't think they do much during the day, and are very slow to move anytime. They can hide good too.

Thanks Sheila. I'll just keep looking and be diligent.

We used to use a specific kind of tiny wasp that laid its eggs inside the caterpiller...when the wasps hatched, they ate the worm...worked great. Can't remember the name of the wasp..but I bought them at a feed store so it must not be a big secret to the ag folks.

Whoa! Shades of Terminator ll! Sounds like a great idea. How did you get the wasps to stay in the right area? Does this work on the current caterpiller or are the eggs laid in the larva to attack the next generation? I'm for sure checking this out at my feed store tomorrow. Killer wasps...hmmm......

Only thing with that wasp is that it does not discriminate. It will attack the caterpillars of all the lovely butterflies just as quickly!

They also like bell peppers. That's where I found my first one! Look for balls of worm poop to help you find them. They mostly come out at/near dusk or o-dark-thirty.

Here's the poop evidence to be on the lookout for. Sometimes it's not this big, but the bigger the worm, the bigger the poop.

Here's the culprit.

Please don't get the wasps, they are the main reason a lot of our Monarchs, and other bfs are dissappearing. It is a horrible thing to happen. This is a chrysalis that was a fully developed caterpillar, made it's chrysalis then died. Preditor wasps pupa eat the insides of the cats that are used to become butterflies.
Just drop them in a cup of soapy water to die, or cut them in half. A few moths we can live without, but we can't loose anymore butterflies.

I find they spend the days lazing away on the underside of leaves. This year I planted indeterminate tomatoes and have them growing on 8 foot tall bamboo trellis. It has made it easy to see the undersides of the leaves so I have harvested an unbelieveable amount of hornworms. It must be a good year for them.

The Field Guide to Texas Critters says

Oh my, I'm so conflicted now. Thought I'd found something to do my dirty work for me, and I find out they're indiscriminate killing machines. I like butterflies and other critters, and I'm willing to share my 14 acres with them, but I'm not willing to "roll over and play dead." I did some hand watering tonight, so looked the brugs and tomatoes over again. They've stripped two tomato plants almost bare. I found nothing. That may be because the whole time I was looking, I was hoping I wouldn't catch sight of the ugly things. They give me the willies. My dh came out to help, and he didn't find any either. Is there one time of day you seem to find them more than another?

Syb

I haven't had them in several years, but then I only have one lone tomato plant that is not doing much. I have the Datura though, like the one I had posted earlier on the thread. I think the Robins or Mockingbirds may get them. If the ones you were finding were large, could be the others have decided to pupate already. Look on the ground in the loose soil and leaf litter. If you still are loosing leaves look for small ones along stems of tender vegetation.
You know, I just remembered that about the time we quit leaving our large outside light on is when they quit coming. We have the motion dector floodlights now.

Sheila, feel free to come over and take mine! LOL

Sheila, was that when daylight saving time started?

No syb..I think it was around 6 months ago...why?

Stephanie...I will take a couple if you come across some (any size). I have several Datura that I wouldn't mind them chomping on.

I just went over to a friends house today and loaded up a huge water lily and about 25 of his Gulf Frits too. They have passion vine but it is so small that they were eating it to the ground. I have plenty for them to eat over here. One is in the shade and doesn't get too many takers so I use it to feed the caged ones.

I just thought maybe they were daylight driven (or the opposite), and when it started staying light earlier (or not) they change their habits.

Let me get this right. Are you telling Stephanie that you keep these worms in cages, or are you talking about something else?

I have heard that it is easier to find the hornworm after the sun goes down. When it isn't as sunny and hot they come up to the top side of the branch. Somebody even said to go out after dark with a flashlight but I'm affraid of snakes.
Lisa

I found one on my chaste vitex this evening. It didn't move, I think the heat got it.

I found that hornworm too , on my tomato plant. I had a feeling it was up to no good!
How about this guy? I thought I would relocate .............

but then saw I was too late...he left the building!

Blech! It's a locust! I hate those things!

Sybil....you need to join us over on the Hummer Butterfly Forum. You will get a better appreciation for the "worms". LOL!
But no, I don't try to raise the hornworm, there are quite a few of them around. I know what it looks like and don't need pictures of it either.
I do raise caterpillars of different species inside my potting shed then release the butterflies or moths that emerge from the pupa stage.
Here is my "nursery" last year.

Why do it?? Because butterflies are on the decline and only about 2% of them actually make it to adults. A lot fall prey to the preditory insects like the fly, wasp mentioned earlier, praying mantis, lizards, frogs, & birds just to name a few. Then in our efforts to care for the plants they use, we spray chemicals.
Here is a Giant Swallowtail Butterfly I raised. Once you experience this you feel differently. It sat there for a long time just staring at me, then finally flew off.

I like listening to the locusts. Odd though, I haven't heard any yet this summer. They normally appear when it gets blistering hot and I think we are there!

1lisac ~ it is said a black light will make them glow after dark. I would need two lights tho. One to look for them and a regular flashlight to see where I'm putting my feet. I'm with you on the snakes!

Pod- We have the cicadas (or 17 year locusts) I'm finding their shells around and they are really noisy. I actually tried to raise a horned worm in a jar on my kitchen counter (yes I'm a adult) but I guess I got lonely when the poly wogs turned to toads and started jumping out of the trifle bowl I had them in. Anyway, I put the jar outside this spring but didn't see any activity so the kids and I dumped out the jar and the pupa was dried out inside. Either it had already left the building or died. It was huge, the worm was 4+ inches long and fat as a little pig. I thought it was cute, it was lumbering along at our farmer's market and I knew there was no way it could burrow in ground that was hard as a rock. I adopted it but I may have done more harm then good.
Shelia- can you d-mail me with more info on your nursery that is great.
Lisa

I like the sound of locusts, but I don't like the LOOK of them! LOL There is something comforting about hearing the locust sound. Not sure if it just brings back good summertime memories or what, I just think they're one of the creepiest looking things ever.

It's the katydids that make a lot of noise here. This year there must not be very many, but I swear, some years they reach the decibel level of a full hard rock band!

Aren't cicadas, katydids and locust all the same?