# Tomato/tobbaco Hornworm hunting tips!



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

It feels like I have made it my mission in life to hunt down and pluck hornworms off my maters and they seem to like my habenero peppers too.
Some tips for those who haven't been able to find them before they eat your plant to death.

Number one-first thing in the morning I go for a hunt-I look for little tiny eggs, laid singly on outermost and usually upper tomato leaves.. they look like tiny little seed pearls they start out white and change to black right before they hatch. I pull them off or crush them when I find them..
Next I look for fresh looking tiny holes in the outer most leaves, ones that are still green on the edge and haven't either started growing or turning brown on the edges.. flip that leaf over and you will usually find the tiny little boogers-about 1/8 to 1/4 inch long with a black "hair" on the butt.
I have a pic but it is from my cell phone and not so good but you will see how tiny they are.










I am a bit obsessed with my garden and find myself out there several times a day trying to will my plants and fruits to grow faster so I can eat them! lol

Even as obsessed as I am I do miss a few here and there.










And the ones that I miss my grand daughter finds and gives to the chickens. (along with some corn)


















Once that reach that size most folks can find them by following the poo trail. I can even hear them cuz they make a clicking sound.. it is easier to find them in the early morning and late evening before it gets dark. Another trick which works only ok is using a black light to make them luminescence like scorpions. Maybe my light is too small but it doesn't work that well for me.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Love the pictures!!!  (the little girl is one heck of a cutie)

I don't give the tobbaco worm much of my time ... around here the warps take care of them. (and I'm happy to let them. )

The female wasp uses her ovipositor to lay eggs just under the skin of an unlucky hornworm. As the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the hornworm’s viscera–literally eating a hornworm alive...

I've found two tobbaco worms in the garden this year ... but the wasp beat me to them. :congrat:


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

We don't get many of them around here-I've only found one ever in my 47 years hunting hornworms. I left it right where it was so that I might get more... I do have quite a few praying mantises tho, but never seem to have my camera when I see them..


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Emerald said:


> I do have quite a few praying mantises tho,


That's interesting. I've seen more praying mantis this year than I've ever seen before. I wonder if that has anything to do with the abundance of grasshoppers we have.


----------



## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

I have found these pest in my herb bed eating the dill and fennell. Found 3 on the tomatoes recently. The chickens love them.


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Well this is the first week that I haven't found any hornworms on my plants-they tend to come in waves.. 
For folks who don't want to hand pick them like I do, you can use Bt Bacteria Thurengensis (sp) it makes them die when they eat. binds their guts up.


----------

