Just ask anyone who grows their own food at home what they think about the beautiful butterflies and moths that flutter around the garden and you will get an answer you might not expect.
A Tobacco Hornworm making itself at home in our garden. Grrrrrr!
😡 To put it bluntly... WE HATE THEM!
Gardening in itself is a never ending battle with and against the forces of nature and if you don't have the luxury of an indoor growing environment like a greenhouse to protect your crops you learn to hate certain critters that most people adore.
Butterflies, Moths, Squirrels, and Birds are high on the enemy list (among other "less-cute" insects) when your growing your own food. They are persistent, fast, and cause lots of damage and loss of yield.
These mean looking critters are called "Hornworms" and come in two varieties, Tomato and Tobacco. The both come from really cool looking Sphinx Moths, but are very destructive to tomato plants. As they grow they continuously devour the leaves and can spread any topical funguses or diseases on the plants like blight and powder mildew.
While these guys are a pain in the ass all season, they come in a big surge in early Spring. If you don't check the leaves daily and brush of any of the little green eggs the moths lay, you will first notice little holes in the leaves. I usually break off the leaf I find them hiding under and discard it, but apparently I missed 3 of them over the last 10 days.
Yesterday while inspecting the new tomato garden at my in-law's house, I found 3 Tobacco Hornworms at were about 2.5 inches in length. They do grow fast, and devour a lot of leaves each day as they get bigger. After taking some pictures, I removed the leaves they were on and carefully checked to make sure I didn't miss any as they do blend in really well.
While these things look super evil with that big horn spike in the back, they are not actually dangerous. Supposedly that spike is NOT a stinger of any kind and I have seen gardener just pick them off with their fingers. However, I don't feel like I should test that theory and avoid touching them in the process of removing the leaves.
As far as identifying which type you have in when you see them, Tomato Hornworms have a black spike and v-shaped white stripes, the Tobacco Hornworms have a reddish spike and parallel white stripes angled to the back. So, in our garden, they were Tobacco flavor. ;-)
So, don't get upset when I tell you I HATE butterflies and moths... I have a good reason.
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