in article , DigitalVinyl at
wrote on 8/27/03 9:15 PM:

1. What are these things? Where did they come from? I planted the tomatoes
in pots with store-bought potting mix. Did they arrive by air?
Tomato Horn worms, they will become a very large moth...the name
escapes me. The worms grow up to 4" long
2. I pried 7 of the buggers off my plants, but couldn't find any more. What
can I do to to prevent them from coming back?

Pretty common predator. If you see one with white eggs standing all
over its back, like so...
http://members.aol.com/digitalvinyl6...saurusworm.jpg
Don't kill those. The eggs are typically wasp eggs that feed on the
horn worms. When the eggs hatch they eat the worm, then they spread
out over your garden and do the same thing to all the others. I had
only one in my garden...it had eggs. I left it, it vanished and I
never saw another. Killing small brachnid wasps may allow the worms to
multiply (eliminating natural predator).

Doesn't effect the tomatoes, but because of size and appetite will
strip plants quickly.
DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

That is a good photo!

Fortunately, I have not run across a hornworm this year. Unfortunately, I
never saw one that looked like the picture.

Bill