Tomato hornworms are inexperienced caterpillars as much as 4½ inches lengthy with a black horn sticking out from the tail and 8 V-shaped white marks alongside the aspect.
A comparable hornworm is the tobacco hornworm with a pink horn at the tail and seven white diagonal strains with a black border.
Hornworms feed on leaves, stems and fruit of nightshade circle of relatives vegetation—tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, peppers and others. Feeding hornworms can kill vegetation.
Hornworms are the larvae of huge, grey moths with wingspans of four to five inches.
Hornworms simply mix in with the foliage of the vegetation they assault however they go away in the back of black pellets of excrement which might be simple to identify. They ceaselessly feed the other way up at the backside of leaves.
Moths emerge from soilborne pupae in early summer season. Grownup moths lay eggs at the underside of leaves. The eggs hatch in per week then the larvae hornworms feed for a month.
Moths lay faded inexperienced eggs singly at the leaf undersides. After feeding the caterpillars inter the soil and shape brown, glossy, 2-inch-long pupae. The pupae can overwinter. There are 4 generations a 12 months.
Goal Crops: Eggplant, pepper, potato, tomato.
Feeding Conduct and Harm: Hornworms chunk leaves leaving in the back of holes and occasionally handiest midribs. In addition they chunk stems and gnaw inexperienced end result.
Natural Controls: Handpicking is possibly best; handpick and drown in soapy water. Follow Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) whilst caterpillars are nonetheless small. Pyrethrum, rotenone, and spinosad sprays are maximum poisonous and a final lodge, however those sprays additionally kill recommended bugs.
Natural Regulate Calendar: Right here’s what you’ll be able to do seasonally to keep watch over tomato hornworms:
- Sooner than planting: Flip soil 3 to five inches to reveal overwintered pupae; they are going to die within the chilly or be eaten by means of birds.
- At planting time: Give the soil a last shallow cultivation to reveal pupae. Plant dill as a entice crop to attract moths and hornworms clear of the primary crop.
- Whilst plants increase: Handpick caterpillars from foliage and spoil them. Repel hornworms with scorching pepper spray; spray the answer without delay at the pest. Follow Bt or spinosad when caterpillars are small. Draw in braconid wasps to the lawn; feminine braconid wasps lay eggs below the outside of hornworms; when the wasp eggs hatch the larvae feed at the hornworm actually consuming hornworms alive. Go away parasitized hornworms within the lawn to permit new generations of braconid wasps to look.
- After harvest: Take away outdated vegetation and overgrown weeds. Flip soil 4 to six inches deep to reveal pupae to chilly and birds.
Herbal Predators: Braconid and trachogramma wasps are small wasps that parasitize hornworms. Different insect predators are murderer insects and praying mantids. Animal predators come with orioles, barn swallows, blackbirds, bluebirds, downy woodpeckers, flycatchers, phoebes, and sparrows, additionally moles, skunks, and toads.
Medical identify: Manduca quinquemaculata (tomato hornworm), Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm).
