I learned last year when I saw my tomato plants,
minus their leaves like this,
what I needed to be looking for ...
well, actually not SO little, but
you have to really look to see them!
They are good at camouflage.
I read that if you go out at night with a florescent light,
you can spot them more easily. According to Wikipedia,
"Using an ultraviolet light source of 375 nm and viewed behind a blue-blocking
filter (yellow or amber filter), a tomato hornworm fluoresces in bright green
while a tomato leaf appears deep red/amber.
When you see the leaves like this, you need to go on the hunt for these caterpillars.
They are voracious eaters and they'll strip your stalks clean!
Ask me how I know! (see post from last year!)
Now that the weather has gotten cooler, I'm hoping to get a new crop
of tomatoes before the 1st frost in Central Texas.
Yes, that's YOU I'm looking at!
In my opinion,
the only good tomato hornworm
is DEAD ONE!
(no, I didn't take a picture of the smushed ones!)
