THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE…?!?

Big, fat and green!! The infamous Tomato Hornworm made its appearance suddenly and without warning in our burgeoning tomato patch at the end of July.

Did I forget to mention long? Some of these green monsters were up to 5 inches in length, and by the time we discovered them they were fully ensconced, happily munching away on what appeared to be every one of our tomato plants.

The tomato hornworm is considered to be one of the most destructive pests and will decimate tomato plants (as well as potato, pepper and eggplant) if left to their own devices, stripping the plants of their life-supporting leaves. It called for immediate action, and after a bit of googling to confirm: a) what these creatures were, and b) that they could neither bite nor sting, I grabbed a pair of silver plated salad tongs and began snatching them off the vines with the precision of a golden eagle. Even so, when captured their tendency is to writhe about, i.e., “to make continual twisting, squirming movements or contortions of the body” (ref.: Oxford Dictionary), and I swear I could hear them hissing at me.

Photo credit: Rob McClure as Seymour in the off-Broadway revival of “Little Shop of Horrors”

My preferred method of dispatch was to fling them to the ground and quickly cut them in half with a 4 ft long spade. It was quick and I think much more humane than the commonly recommended method of throwing them into a pail of soapy water and leaving them to slowly expire. On at least three occasions I managed to get in just the “right” position and ended up covered in a Linda Blair-esque (courtesy of “The Exorcist”) spray of green goop all over my white T-shirt and shorts. Lovey (not!). My technique continued to improve over time. All told, I counted over 150 green hornworms dispatched over a 5 day period. It was a surprise to us that so many could appear in an area where no tomatoes had been grown in the past. Apparently, the Manduca quinquemaculata, or five-spotted hawkmoth, which can have a wingspan of up to 5 inches(!), was able to home in on our tomato patch with little difficulty.

The Five-Spotted Hawkmoth

Photo by Didier Descouens/Wikimedia Commons. They may not be from outer space, but its offspring certainly is other-worldly in appearance. We await the next tomato season and will be prepared to meet the invasion of these green tomato marauders, should it materialize, head on.

On a more serious note, to find out more about the Tomato Hornworm: Almanac - Tomato Hornworms Tomato Hornworms: What Are They and How to Get Rid of Them Manduca Quinquemaculata - The Five-Spotted Hawkmoth

Just one more...