Comments on: Picking up worms and the mystery moth

By: Sharyn Bass

Sharyn Bass — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 13:44:35 +0000

There is a small wasp that will leave its little white eggs on the backs of these caterpillars. The caterpillar serves as a food supply for the babies and the caterpillar will eventually die. I found one of these caterpillars eating my tomatoes this year and thought about keeping it until I researched it. They are a pest, but the wasps help gardeners by pollinating. It’s all nature’s plan!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 23:46:45 +0000

In reply to Stephie McCarthy. Sounds like a great place to visit

By: Caterpillar Arts

Caterpillar Arts — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:54:40 +0000

I love it! He’s so fat and cute. 🙂 I remember my mom not wanting me to pick up hornworms when I was younger, but I did it anyway when she wasn’t looking. Now, I’m purposely raising them inside – she’s probably wondering where she went wrong!

By: Sue Langley

Sue Langley — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:08:25 +0000

In reply to Stephie McCarthy. Charming story, Stephie! I would make a good children's book, huh?

By: Stephie McCarthy

Stephie McCarthy — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:06:09 +0000

I have an interesting story about these green guys to share! There is a mystical garden in Virginia called Peralandra. It is said to be a gathering place for nature spirits, and gets a lot of visitors when it is open. There have been books written by the gardener that are rather magical in nature. Anyway, I visited there and it was a unique experience. One thing I remember is that they told me they had an agreement with these green catty-pillars that they would do the pruning of the tomato vines, but not harm the plants or fruit. In other words, they believed that this cattapooty handled the pinching-back of the tomato suckers and made the plant stockier and healthier! I never forgot that rather positive way of looking at things, and they did have a wonderful garden there. If you ever visit Northern Virginia, you might check to see if the garden is open and take a look for yourself.

By: Peg

Peg — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:30:33 +0000

Haha! I freaked when I found these hidden on my tomato plants this year. Or I should say Sheila found them and I found her eating them! She’s our little long haired chihuaua/terrier mix. She was so excited and I felt bad tking it away, but didn’t know if it’d make her sick. I had not seen them in previous years and thought maybe we were impervious to them with our dry climate. Little did I know, that they were just hiding so well. I have not seen any of the Hummingbird/ hawk moths. Nature is a very interesting thing 🙂

By: Gail Peters

Gail Peters — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:37:11 +0000

I like my bugs too and leave them alone unless they are causing too much destruction, which has only been done by slugs. You seem to have plenty of beautiful tomatoes inspite of the tomato worn.