DigitalVinyl wrote:

Got what I believe are two issues affecting two tomato plants and
found an interesting worm.

First the worm...my first thought was "stegosaurus" :-)
http://members.aol.com/digitalvinyl6...saurusworm.jpg
. . . Friend or foe? I'm assuming foe..those white things on its back
can't be good.

Okay I recall someone mentioning a tomato horn worm so that was my
first guess.

Interestingly enough the stegosaurus spikes are wasp eggs. The page I
found recommends leaving the infected worm alone so the wasps will
hatch and kill more.

Is that what others do? Leave them to produce wasps/insects?

This worm is only half the full size of 4 inches.



Excerpt from :
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/ext...s/hornworm.htm

The larva is the damaging stage and feeds on the leaves and stems of
the tomato plant and leaving behind dark green or black droppings.

Recommendations: This insect is parasitized by a number of insects.
One of the most common is a small braconid wasp. Larva that hatch from
wasp eggs laid on the hornworm feed on the inside of the hornworm
until the wasp is ready to pupate. The cocoons appear as white
projections protruding from the hornworms body. If such projections
are seen, leave the hornworms in the garden. The wasps will kill the
hornworms when they emerge from the cocoons and will seek out other
hornworms to parasitise.

Handpicking is an effective control in small gardens. Bt (Bacillus
thuringiensis) and other insecticides may also be used to control
hornworms.


References:

1. Tomato Hornworm, Cornell University Extension Service

2. Ortho Problem Solver, Ortho Information Services, pg 776


DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener