Say hello to Wilbur. He is my friendly and hungry tomato hornworm that appeared on my tomato plant the other day. As I happened to be walking by, I noticed several stems striped completely bare of all leaves and looking considerably shorter than they did before. It took a minute for me to find him, but there he was.
I thought, "My Wilbur you sure are hungry!" Then I saw Wilbur's brother, Watkins. Watkins is apparently also hungry, as shown by the short, completely eaten stem that he is resting on.
If you think I sound much too nice to these tomato plant eaters, it's because they are now covered in tiny white eggs. They are now the host for the eggs for a beneficial parasitic wasp. I'm just letting nature take it's course. Yes, I probably sacrificed a few tomatoes, but that's life.
Meanwhile, in the rest of my garden, other plants are starting to show signs of fall. These are my hosta flowers, once such a pretty pale purple.
The black-eyed susans have lost their yellow petals. I leave them up all winter - they had interest to the winter garden and are lovely covered in snow.
Ida P. Krause says
Oh my goodness the worms are neat to look at for sure but yep, pretty destructive critters. The thought of them with the wasp eggs is a bit gruesome. - I like that you leave your Black-Eyed susans up through the winter.
Ann says
For Wilbur and Watkins things are about to take a turn for the worst. It is a timely remind that life is short and you should enjoy it while you can.
Marjie says
I'm not a fan of bugs, insects, worms, etc., but your pictures are pretty!
Ellen Pilch says
I like to see tomato hornworms even though they ruin the plants, they look like cartoons 🙂