Death of a Tomato Hornworm?

I know that this is a hornworm, or whatever they call them, but what the heck is all the white stuff on it? Is it eggs from the hornworm or something else?

Any info appreciated!

Sheryl

Looks like parasitic wasp larvae have found the worm and are in the process of killing him.

Yup, I think stephanie is correct. I would suggest you leave this particular hornworm alone so the wasp's larvae can eat it and then you'll have more wasps to to lay eggs on more hornworms.

Ain't nature grand?

I wondering is there anything which would feed on stink bugs?

Very cool, I thought that was what was happening but I had never seen it before.

Of course now I have to ask, do these wasps go after humans? We have a an incredible variety of wasps (hornets? I don't know the diff) with both mud and paper nests. It never used to bother me, but I seem to have become much more reactive to stings over the past few years - to the point where I ended up with steroid treatment, last sting, and am now the proud owner of an epi-pen. I prefer the live-and-let-live model, but ....

Sorry, Ivyao, no idea!

Hi Ivyao,

It seems that some stink bugs are herbivores and some are actually predators that eat other bugs. Do you know what type of stink bug you have? Are they causing significant damage to your vegetables?

If you are certain that you have a plant-eating stink bug problem, the most common predator to eat your stink bug is called, appropriately, an assassin bug. I am not sure where you would acquire some of these beauties. I would think that three or four in a large garden would be plenty to keep the stink bug population down.

Here are some articles that you may find of interest:
About stink bugs: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/bugs/stinkbugs/stinkbugs.htm
Houston Chronicle stink bug article: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/gardening/5213322.html
GardenWeb article: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tompests/msg0412391826396.html

Hope this helps!

Hi, Kbumgar,

I am sure mine are the plant-eating one. They gather on my tomato and luffa squash, making ugly dry spots on the fruit. Thanks for the articles, after reading them, I think the organic thumb and fingers would be the best weapon against them. Some of them mentioned plant sunflower or millet as a trap plant, maybe I will try this next year.

The parasitic wasps that are doing in your hornworm will not go after humans. In fact, they're so tiny, you hardly even notice them. They will destroy lots of bad bugs and worms for you, though.

That's great news, thanks much!

Stink bugs and Leaf-footed bugs both attack tomatoes. They are almost always found in large groups of insects.

Assassin bugs which look a bit like Leaf-footed bugs but without the extra leaf shapes on the legs. They eat other bugs. They are almost always found solo.

Here is some great information I found on another site.

Tomato hornworm larvae are also parasitized by a number of insects. One of the most common is a small braconid wasp, Cotesia congregatus. Larvae that hatch from wasp eggs laid on the hornworm feed on the inside of the hornworm until the wasp is ready to pupate. The cocoons appear as white projections protruding from the hornworms body (see photo, left). If such projections are observed, the hornworms should be left in the garden to conserve the beneficial parasitoids. The wasps will kill the hornworms when they emerge from the cocoons and will seek out other hornworms to parasitize.

Excellent, thanks! Did their picture look like mine? I wish I had a picture of the wasps.

The site below shows a wasp coming from an egg.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Galveston/beneficials/beneficial-04_braconid_wasp_on_hornworm.htm

Hope this helps.

Carol

Sorry but the whole site name didn't get copied over. Try this one!

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Galveston/beneficials/beneficial-04_braconid_wasp_on_hornworm.htm

"Poor, poor, Harry...."

Great link, Carol, thanks! I'm almost glad to have had the hornworm, just to now have the wasps. I had a similar experience earlier this year with cucumber beetles - thought they were going to decimate my crop, but those armor plated looking bugs (I know the name, I just am blank at the moment) came in and chowed 'em down. One vote for not using pesticides!

I didn't see any info regarding what adult braconid wasps eat. I see lots of small wasp/bee looking insects working the carrot blossoms. Do they eat pollen/nectar?

I have put-up two "Mason Bee" nests - but other small native bees use the nests. I haven't seen Mason Bees here for a couple of years.

Would you like a few of mine? My Salvia nemerosa "May NIght" draws them like *crazy*. My dog sits there and snaps at them all day, silly girl.