The cocoons appear as many small white projections protruding from the hornworm’s body. Larvae that hatch from wasp eggs laid on the hornworm feed on the inside of the hornworm until the wasp is ready to pupate. One of the most common is a small braconid wasp, Cotesia congregatus.
What are those white things on tomato hornworms? Tomato hornworm larvae are parasitized by a number of insects. Spinosad is also very effective against these caterpillars, but Bt is preferred as it has lower potential to negatively impact non-target species. Many growers report that using a black light at night helps to find them, as the caterpillars fluoresce brightly under ultraviolet light.īt works very well on these caterpillars, as long as it is still feeding. The problem with hand picking is that hornworms blend in very well and it is easy to overlook one or two caterpillars, which can do significant damage in a day or two. Hand picking hornworms is a bit frightening but does work and you can bring them to chickens who enjoy fighting with the challenging pest. Management options: Hornworm caterpillar on tomato plant Adults are most often found dead or dying among or nearby a tomato crop after having laid their eggs. Eggs are laid on tomato leaves and hatch in five days. At dusk they hover over flowers sucking nectar. The adults are large, fast-flying hawk moths, which in flight may look like a hummingbird. Many growers don’t bother looking for the caterpillars because they blend in so well, and instead just look for the frass. The frass of young hornworms is small, but the hornworms grow larger quickly and so does the frass. The frass is often the first noticeable sign of their presence. Look for feeding damage and frass (insect poop) around tomato and pepper plants. The hornworms will also attack fruit, eating gouges out so large that they look more like bites of a furry animal pest than an insect. Sometimes it seems that healthy-looking tomato or pepper plants are stripped of their leaves overnight, leaving bare stems. They are giant caterpillars that grow rapidly and can do a vast amount of eating in a very short amount of time. Hornworms are probably the most destructive insect that attacks tomatoes.
Pest/disease identification and lifecycle, most common damage symptoms and crops affected: This resource is offered as part of MOFGA’s Pest Reports Fact Sheet Series
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