It's raining cats and dogs today here on the gulf coast, but I had to go out in the garden when I got home from work to have a look at everything.
I found this thing on one of my tomato plants. I assume it's some sort of caterpillar (is that in itself bad for tomatoes?), but what the heck are all those things hanging off of it?
I don't know jack about bugs/pests, so I'd appreciate a suggested course of action here.
Regards,
David
Here's a closer crop:
It would have been a Sphinx Moth but is has parasitic wasp eggs on it. Squish it and put it out of its misery
Thanks; consider it done!! Bleech.
If you leave it be, future wasps will live to help keep those Tomato Hornworms in check... who knows, it's your call.
I move them out of the tomato patch when they're this far along...I despise the hornworms...but the wasp larvae are good guys...keeping the hornworm population in check.
I tossed it into my burn pile (way down in the back). I usually burn every couple of years. :)
Those are the pupa of beneficial wasps on that caterpillar pest. It is best to let them complete their pupation and emerge as adults rather than destroy them. They will help to control other pest caterpillars in your garden. Good guys! The caterpillar is a goner - it won't eat any more of your tomato plants....
LOL! Bummer on the wasp eggs, the cat is beautiful -- I bought a tomato plant just so I could have the moths!
Suzy
To each his own. Hope you bought lots of tomato plants. Those cats can take them to the ground overnight! Personally, I plant them for tomatoes.
If it had a Black end horn, then I believe they called it a Five-spotted hawkmoth, Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata). http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/210/
If it had a Red end horn, then I believe they called it a Carolina Sphinx Moth, Tobacco Hornworm (Manduca sexta). http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/35/
Either way, that worm's got some worms. ha.
so once the tomato (horn) worm gets the wasp eggs, they become beneficial? Are these the same things that's gone thru my tomatoes leaving cut stems or is that something different?
Those cut stems are the result of the hornworms. The wasp eggs have pupated, that is what you are seeing. By the time they get to this point, most of the 'insides' of the hornworm have been consumed. They will do little, if any damage at this point, so yes, they are beneficial now.
The hornworm is not beneficial - it eats the leaves, stems of the tomato plant. The cocoons on the hornworm are beneficial - they are parasitic wasps that will mate and lay eggs in more hornworms. Once the eggs inside hatch, the hornworm quits eating, and it is no longer a threat to your tomato plant at that point.
This is a good site that has photos of the little wasp and lots of information:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Galveston/beneficials_images/1c_archives/beneficial-04C-GCMGA15315_braconid_wasp.jpg&imgrefurl=http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Galveston/beneficials/beneficial-04_braconid_wasp_on_hornworm.htm&h=768&w=1024&sz=67&hl=en&start=118&um=1&tbnid=xm1AdaqnPU8Q8M:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparasitic%2Bwasp%2Bhorn%2Bworm%26start%3D100%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
Thanks for the info & the link, good stuff there. That's kind of an interesting situation, don't you think? I never would have guessed it.
