Tomato Hornworm
This growing season has been an interesting one, to say the least. Especially when you walk through your tomato plants and find creatures like these devouring your plants. They are so fast at defoliating a tomato plant of its leaves that you would not believe one worm could eat so much.
Here is one from a few weeks ago that my husband found on one of the plants. It was huge! We went out to inspect all the plants and found 12 more over the next 2 days of searching the rows. Now, a younger one we found is covered in the cocoons from a parasitic wasp.
Apparently, a female parasitic wasp lays its eggs underneath the skin of the hornworm. The larva feed off the host worm from the inside and then spin these cocoons until they are large enough to emerge as tiny wasps.
One can only hope that the little wasps do their job and keep searching for more worms to lay eggs in. This is one of mother nature's Divine designs to help us organic growers keep the pests down and under control without having to reach for pesticides.
Covered in Cocoons
I know some of you may find this a bit on the gross side, but I am an avid gardener and I am so pleased when I see nature's eco-system working on my behalf. That's it for today friends, may you have a marvelous week ahead.
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