Yikes! What is WRONG with this hornworm?
CLOSED: Hornworm porcupine
Parasitic wasps have laid their eggs on this hornworm. It is a goner and new parasitic wasps will emerge after consuming their host.
Lovely. YUCK!!! What should I do about this? Thanks!
Those are the cocoons and the only thing left to do is destroy the poor thing.
The worm will shrivel up, turn brown, and fall off eventually.
in other words- choose a species. Let the cocoons mature and have less hornworms in the future, or destroy this now to have less parastic (tiny beneficial) wasps.
Thank you hcmcdole for identifying the issue here. I did some research and found the following - which goes along with what sallyg said:
"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. 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."
My "green porcupine worm" (as I call it) is peacefully sacrificing his life in my tomato plant. =)
Thanks, everyone, for your help and comments. Happy gardening!
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