Thanks for all the feedback.
It sounds like the eggs for these hornworms probably came with the plants
when I bought them from a local nursery in mid-May? Or would they have come
in the potting soil, or by air?
I'll continue to pick them off (using chopsticks
and squash them, unless
they have wasp eggs (looks like grains of rice) stuck to their back, since
the wasp eggs will hatch and eat the worm and all other worms in the area.
If I continue to have problems and hand picking them isn't enough, I'll try
some insecticides like the following.
I would also suggest a non-toxic spray
Bacillus thuringenis ( available as Dipel or Thuricide) is effective.
You can also apply Bt Powder to the plants to kill any younger
hornworms. It is an organic biological insecticide that targets just
caterpillars and chewing larvae.
Thanks again for all the feedback, everybody.
Cheers,
Stephen
"Stephen Younge" wrote in message
news:mHe3b.217301$Oz4.57751@rwcrnsc54...
Yesterday I saw something that I have never seen before in my life. Huge,
green caterpillars on my tomato plants! I never thought I'd spot the
biggest
bugs of my life in Colorado!
My attention was first drawn to the plants when I noticed tiny droppings
around the base of the containers (20" pots). Some areas of the plants
looked like the leaves and stems had been nibbled. I finally noticed
several, huge green caterpillars clinging to the stems. They were so well
camouflaged that I have to be about 6" away to notice them.
Here are some close-ups of the buggers:
http://home.attbi.com/~stephen.and.kim/1.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~stephen.and.kim/2.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~stephen.and.kim/3.jpg
Anyway, my questions a
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?
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?
3. Are they poisonous, given that they are eating poisonous tomato plants?
Will birds or other predators go after them?
Cheers,
Stephen
Boulder, CO