An unwelcome visitor...

[swamprad]

Really, I knew better. It was just that my Hungarian Roma tomato had borne hundreds of wonderful tomatoes all summer long, that prompted me to take a small cutting, put it in a glass of water, and stick it under my HID light.

A week later, I noticed something wasn't right with the buds on one of my ascocendas. A TOMATO WORM had taken a bite out of EVERY BUD on the ascocenda, except one!

I don't think I've ever enjoyed squishing a worm so much...

 

[NYEric]

But it was well fed! oke:

 

[goldenrose]

Bummer! Next year save the seeds instead of a cutting!

 

[SlipperFan]

Don'cha know that Tomato Hornworms turn into lovely Sphinx moths, relatives of the moth that pollinates Angraecum sesquipedale? oke:

 

[Heather]

They're pretty big - I'm sort of surprised you didn't notice it hitching a ride in!
Sorry for your loss. They're nasty as caterpillars go but Dot's right...

 

[swamprad]

Hahaha, you're absolutely right, Dot! Angraecum sesquipedale is near the top of my want list...

 

[Ernie]

Ahhhh, the hornybutt tomato munchers!!!! Little monsters can devastate a tomato plant in two nights.

-Ernie

 

[NYEric]

It's amazing how well they're adapted, color and all, to eat your tomatoes!

 

[em_tee_w]

We inherited a couple of large pepper plants a couple of years back, and one night we saw one of these worms on the floor. We didn't know what it was at first, but we did some research & found out it was a hornworm. We put it on a pot with moist soil, it burrowed in & made it's cocoon. We kept the cocoon in the fridge over the winter & in the spring we were rewarded with a lovely moth. We took some pictures and let it go. It's really a pretty thing. Maybe your worm is a descendant of our moth?...

 

[nikv]

swamprad, you did the right thing. I absolutely hate those hornworms!

 

[biothanasis]

VEry annoing creatures!!!! But they have a role to play...

 

[NYEric]

Yes, eating ascocendas!

 

[goldenrose]

..... well not any more for this one!