Hornworm

[rdback]

Tomato / Tobacco Hornworm. BAD caterpillar, beautiful moth.

I usually DON'T kill them, I take them over to the compost pile and put them on a self-sown tomato or pepper plant. That way, they can continue to do their thing.

I think this is a Tobacco hornworm because the lines on its' side are straight, like a cigarette. The lines on a Tomato hornworm are broken, indicating it no longer smokes.

[chrysanthemum]

I admire that you relocate them, rdback. I’m afraid that I don’t do that with hornworms as I don’t have tomatoes anywhere other than in my garden, and they can be pretty devastating. I have to admit that hornworms really give me the willies. I don’t like to touch them even with gloves. That guy is pretty big.


I have relocated other caterpillars like black swallowtails on dill or parsley or giant swallowtails on citrus trees.

[woodeye]

I found 3 of them on my tomato plants in June. They looked exactly like the ones in your pictures, except mine had a reddish colored horn. I researched them at the time and according to what I found, the tobacco hornworms have a reddish horn & diagonal white markings on its sides, the tomato hornworm has a black horn, and 'v' shaped markings on its sides. The horn on yours doesn't look red, nor does it look black. So for what it's worth, I'll cast my vote for a tobacco hornworm and agree that it looks like a smoker...

[heavyhitterokra]

i.ibb.co/pRNNQ4b/DSC02104.jpg

The hornworms I have here all have red horns and diagonal stripes, I've never noticed them taking a smoke break. I think they are all too busy trying to destroy my tomato vines to worry about lighting up a cigarette.