I'm in Tucson also, and I keep getting those nasty green tobacco hornworms on my sweet olive bush. Not exactly an infestation, but 2 or 3 will leave their mark, and quickly -- they're ravenous and they get HUGE! They eventually turn into some kind of sphynx moth (except the ones in my yard, hehe)

The only other "new" caterpillar problem are the Genista caterpillars attacking my Spanish broom. Spanish broom is mostly green twigs with a few tiny leaves (similar to a Palo Verde or Ephedra) but once the leaves are gone, they simply devour the outer wall of the stem, causing the stem to die. BT spray kills them within a day, but I'm having to apply it weekly just to keep up with the population explosion.

The creature I'm really having problems with this year are Black Widows -- they're everywhere! I go 'hunting' every few nights and kill at least a dozen every time. I can't stand their filthy, garbage-collecting webs, UGH!!!!!

You might have fewer pests if you left your black widows alone! I don't bother them unless they locate themselves in a place where they could pose danger to a child or animal. Right now, I wish one would spin a web near my basil where something - I can't find it - is eating every leaf. The pest has now moved on to a struggling tomato plant that I might have to dig up and relocate. I think you've declared war on a friend.

Here is a link that might be useful: widows and pest control

Nah... none of the Widows have set up shop anywhere near my plants. I WISH they would, it would be a win-win for the both of us!

Instead, they're around the hot tub, on our porch, and in/around the BBQ area. They gravitate towards hardscaping and trash cans ... just like the graffiti 'artists' whose population has also exploded in our neighborhood.

I think the Widows avoid plants because they move in the wind. Maybe I should plant more stuff! :)

Sounds like a great reason to me!

Juttah, I mentioned on another thread - Daddy-long-legs will move the dark ladies along, make sure you're not wiping those out.

My uncle used to pay us .05 cents per hornworm that we picked off of his tomato plants.... it was almost not worth it to touch those dang things.

I would definitely consider planting some 4 o'clocks so you can enjoy the sphinx moths, they're really cool. You'll think they nighttime hummers at first.

Has anyone seen the parasitic wasps attack them out here? I have a pic of one meeting it's demise via wasp eggs, but that was in TN.

Hornworm sounds like what I see, and have picked off. What do they become? Or is that the end of it....just a worm. They sure look like they should be the first of "something else".