I am only human. I am a big enough man to admit when I was wrong, and I may have made a mistake. When I saw large chunks of my tomatoes gone early in the season, I rounded up the usual suspects- the mockingbirds. I'm not saying that the mockingbirds weren't to blame at all (I've got my eye on you, avians), but they may have had accomplices.
I've been having trouble with Cabbage Loopers (caterpillars) really tearing into my leafy plants. They have done a lot of damage to the broccoli leaves and the kale leaves. I went ahead and removed the four broccoli plants entirely. Their time was done. I had tried a few different things for getting rid of the caterpillars, including allowing these large lady beetles to breed in the plants, but no luck. I have been staying away from chemical pesticides entirely up to this point, but I went ahead and bought one bottle of insect killer designed to target cabbage loopers and similar pests for a one-time application. I knew I might be sacrificing my lady beetles too, but I was willing to take the chance. I sprayed all the kale plants with the pesticide, and I ended up finishing the small bottle on the tomato plants. I figured that it couldn't hurt, since I was already here.
WELL! I was quite surprised! A few minutes later, I noticed something squirming in the dirt under the tomato plants. I present to you: the Tomato Hornworm.
I've been having trouble with Cabbage Loopers (caterpillars) really tearing into my leafy plants. They have done a lot of damage to the broccoli leaves and the kale leaves. I went ahead and removed the four broccoli plants entirely. Their time was done. I had tried a few different things for getting rid of the caterpillars, including allowing these large lady beetles to breed in the plants, but no luck. I have been staying away from chemical pesticides entirely up to this point, but I went ahead and bought one bottle of insect killer designed to target cabbage loopers and similar pests for a one-time application. I knew I might be sacrificing my lady beetles too, but I was willing to take the chance. I sprayed all the kale plants with the pesticide, and I ended up finishing the small bottle on the tomato plants. I figured that it couldn't hurt, since I was already here.
WELL! I was quite surprised! A few minutes later, I noticed something squirming in the dirt under the tomato plants. I present to you: the Tomato Hornworm.
The Hornworm is really a caterpillar, and it does incredible amounts of damage to tomato crops. Their body is disguised in a leaf-like pattern, and a large "horn" sticks out of it's rear end. Since it looks like a thorn, most animals will avoid it, preferring not to get stuck. This leaves it to do all the eating it wants.
With huge mandibles, it'll open up a large tomato and climb right in. These caterpillars can get as large as your hand (though this one was only an inch long), and they'll eat a half a tomato before moving on to the next! It's a great specimen, but I'm personally glad to see this thing go. I'll be on the lookout for any others as well.