I saw this while inspecting my tomato plant after it rained today. I just wanted to make sure that it was not harmful and what should I do with it?
Get it off there immediately and kill it. It can eat enough to destroy your plant. That is a tomato horn worm. unless it has little cocoons attached to it you can drop it and stomp on it. If has little cocoons it is being used as a food source for beneficial wasps and in that case you would leave it and it will not eat anything more or move even. I don't see any cases so I would drop it and stomp it.
It will eat your plant to the ground. Be sure and check every inch of the plant for others. You rarely find just one,,he may have friends over for a snack of your tomato plant.
Too right Mart!! Those things could eat and eat and eat. They make wonderful moths though. I am not sure what you call them there--something like a hawk moth or a hummingbird moth or a tobacco worm moth larva?? Something in the Sphingidae family. A pity that they are so destructive.
The moth, a five-spotted hawkmoth is a brown and gray hawk moth in the Sphingidae family, if you see those flying around then you know you will have the caterpillars to contend with. They are closely related to the Tobacco hornworm too.
I should have a photo of one of these critters from about 2012 or 2013. They used to frighten me to death, but I decided I love my tomatoes enough to conquer fear.
Makes me sad that they are so destructive. Hawk moths are so very interesting and beautiful. I have the brown and pink ones where I live. Just beautiful.
