Horn worms

[jbfurdog]

Today I have witnessed for the first time a horn worm with parasitic wasp larva/cocoons protruding from its body. What a crazy, weird and amazing sight.

Edit to add photo

 

[LarryH]

I've seen them but never loaded up like that. Pinch the rest in half but let those guys die of consumption.

 

[MarkinCA]

One of the many perils of being a tomato hornworm. Just wondering if the parasitic wasp is common in your area, or if somebody released a bunch? Always great to have some natural predators in the garden. Thanks for the photo!

 

[Smokin'Sims]

We research this. Although we use a different caterpillar-wasp model system.

 

[jbfurdog]

There were 3 in total all with the cocoons. As far as if the wasps are common here, I don't really know but from what I read they are pretty much everywhere.

 

[Pugman1943]

As I recall a mixture of soap and water it zap hem suckers. Google is your friend, recommend staying with natural products than going chemical. Keep the love in the environment.

 

[bfreebern]

We get the worms, but I've never seen them with the cocoons attached.

 

[MarkinCA]

If the horn worm is allowed to morp, it will turn into the Sphinx moth:

Although, a good number of us do not allow the tomato or tobacco horn worm to get that far, they are beautiful looking moths. Sometimes, due to their size, they can be mistaken for a hummingbird (that is, at a quick glance). Here's more info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphingidae