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Old 30-07-2004, 07:56 PM
Doug Kanter
 
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Default Tomato hornworm and "guests"

Sounds like a very cool sight to see! First time I saw a hornworm, I actually heard it first, chewing 10 feet away. There were no wasps doing a job on it, though. I had to pick them off by hand and toss them into some soup I was making.
"madgardener" wrote in message ...
Today when doing a walk about with the digital I checked the progress of my Mr. Stripey tomato plants on the deck. I have one good tomato, and two little ones that are determined to turn anyway. As I was searching in vain for signs of the little round Zucchini I had tucked seeds into the pot (none, alas) I noticed out of the corner of my eye, something white and green. I pulled the stem over to see closer, and there was a tomato hornworm on the underside of the upper stem of a fat leaf, but all over it's body, were little fat, white rice grain like eggs attached everywhere, and the worm was considerably thinner than normal. Predatory wasps had found it and laid her eggs on the host body and the young were feeding off the catapillar. I have a good picture if anyone is interested. Will post it on alt.bianaries.pictures.gardens and send a copy to anyone who hollers at me.
madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler where the pace has gone into overgrown, overlooking a blue cloud shrouded English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36

--
Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect." Chief Seattle