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#1
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Invader
Please see photo, via link below. We caught a few of these guys today,
crawling around on the tomato plant vines. Wonder if anybody can advise what the white things are, attached to the caterpillar's back. http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2...rpillaron6.jpg |
#2
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Invader
ghb624 wrote:
Please see photo, via link below. We caught a few of these guys today, crawling around on the tomato plant vines. Wonder if anybody can advise what the white things are, attached to the caterpillar's back. http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2...rpillaron6.jpg Wow. Haven't seen one of those since I was a little kid in Pennsylvania. It used to be my job to go out to the garden every morning and pick them off of the tomato plants and toss them into the burn barrel. What you've got is a tomato hornworm. Nice picture by the way. And I think that the white "pods" on it means that it has been parasitized by one of its predators but I'll leave that for someone else to verify. http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/ext...s/hornworm.htm -- John McGaw [Knoxville, TN, USA] http://johnmcgaw.com |
#3
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Invader
Those are parasites on the tomato hornworm's back. If I find a hornworm with
parasites in my garden I usually move it somewhere it won't harm my plants and leave it alone so the parasites will increase in number. Marilyn "ghb624" wrote in message ups.com... Please see photo, via link below. We caught a few of these guys today, crawling around on the tomato plant vines. Wonder if anybody can advise what the white things are, attached to the caterpillar's back. http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2...rpillaron6.jpg |
#4
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Invader
Thanks much, any day you learn something new is a good day. I posted
another photo of the hornworm & its parasites he http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghb624/790787348/ |
#5
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Invader
"Marilyn" fcorliss at comcast dot net wrote in message
. .. Those are parasites on the tomato hornworm's back. If I find a hornworm with parasites in my garden I usually move it somewhere it won't harm my plants and leave it alone so the parasites will increase in number. Marilyn Many years ago, I actually heard one of those chewing a tomato plant 15 feet away. That's crazy. |
#6
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Invader
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote : "Marilyn" fcorliss at comcast dot net wrote: Those are parasites on the tomato hornworm's back. If I find a hornworm with parasites in my garden I usually move it somewhere it won't harm my plants and leave it alone so the parasites will increase in number. Marilyn Many years ago, I actually heard one of those chewing a tomato plant 15 feet away. That's crazy. I was able to find the worms on our tomatoes last year by looking up from the huge piles of poo they drop. I'd never seen them before, and was amazed at the damage a few of them could do in a day. Seahag |
#7
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Invader
Great picture. Those may be wasp larvae, which compel the caterpillar
to eat to oblivion. Yes, tomato hornworms will eat tomato plants to nothing in one day. You were lucky - you caught the sucker when it was big enough to spot. The younger one-inch ones are much more difficult to find. |
#8
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Invader
On Jul 12, 11:51 am, ghb624 wrote:
Please see photo, via link below. We caught a few of these guys today, crawling around on the tomato plant vines. Wonder if anybody can advise what the white things are, attached to the caterpillar's back. http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2...rpillaron6.jpg What you have on your "tomato horn worm" are eggs of a parasitic wasp that is very beneficial. They live on the host worm and suck the juices out of it. Actually, you want more of these egg cases. The horn worm is very destructive to your tomato plants so nobody wants them. If you leave the ones alone that have the egg attachments in a few days they will die. The wasps hatch and go about their business of laying eggs on more horn worms. The horn worm is the caterpillar of the sphinx moth or "tobacco bug" or tobacco moth as sometimes it's called. They almost look like humming birds the way they suck nectar from flowers and hover over a flower. |
#9
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Invader
The Hormworms are also real good Catfish bait.
From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley http://community.webtv.net/MelKelly/TheKids |
#10
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Hi There
I am new to worm farming and i didnt know where to start but just wanted to give it a go. So thought i would have a search around the internet to see what info was available and couldnt really find much! However i did find a really great book to download which was incredibly informative and really easy to read. Now I am so excited as i have a better understanding as a complete novice and i highly recommend it to anyone starting out. I found it under this website: Beginners Guide to Starting a Worm Farm would appreciate any further advice from anyone. Allotment Lady Quote:
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