tomato worm with what bug on it! Yuck!

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kinard Wewahitchka, FL Aug 09, 2013

Seen this tomato worm with these white bugs attached all over...they were ther for days. What r they and do they kill the worm?

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missingrosie Hillsborough, NC(Zone 7b) Aug 09, 2013

Wasp eggs. They eat the worm inside out. The cycle of life!

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flatpickit Charleston, SC Aug 10, 2013

The life cycles of insects are often amazing. What you see are not eggs, but instead the silken cocoons of the wasp parasitoids (family Braconidae) that have emerged from the caterpillar body. More here:

https://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg329.html

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missingrosie Hillsborough, NC(Zone 7b) Aug 10, 2013

Yes the wasps eggs contain the larvae and the the larvae emerge to spin a protective cocoon. Also the wasp has within it viruses that suppress the immune system of the caterpillar to keep its defenses down making this cycle easier on developing larvae. In some species the caterpillar's salivary gland produces a chemical that keeps other potential caterpillar predators at bay-- again offering more protection for the developing larvae.

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kinard Wewahitchka, FL Aug 10, 2013

Wow! Very interesting! Okay i do not like wasp or tomato worms , so i do not know if i like to see this or not! But it IS the cycle of life!

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