and then my mom texted me this picture of the ones she found on the pepper plant I gave her. there's 2 in the picture, they ate the whole plant, pretty much over night.

TobaccoTomato hornworm. Try to find as many by hand as possible and do what you did or flick into soapy water.

And no--- insecticidal soap will not take care of them. After you get the ones you "can" see, spray entire plants with BT or Spinosad. BT being the safer one, but Spinosad is OMRI listed also and controls the older(bigger) ones better. But Spinosad will harm bees, so make sure you only do it at dusk -- plus it's pricy.

I use BT for all my caterpillar problems and haven't had a hornworm yet this year...knock on wood.

Sorry to see that -- last year I missed a treatment on my Naga and went out to find one munched a good portion of my plant.

Kevin

P.S. If you find one like in the picture linked, move to different plant. Those little white eggs are pupal cases that have had a parasitic wasp lay it's eggs in the caterpillar. In a few days, they will kill the caterpillar and more wasps will emerge from it to go "parasitize" other hornworms.

Here is a link that might be useful: brachonid wasp pupae

This post was edited by woohooman on Sat, Jul 27, 13 at 12:39

white eggs? you mean the white lines? those are eggs? sweet. I did see a wasp on what looked like a seek and destroy mission crawling around my plant. it didn't look like a parasitic wasp though, but more like a pissed off stingy kind of wasp. given that I'm severely allergic to them (it's not a good allergy to have in florida), I tend to give them a wide berth.

I get them fairly often especially after a rain. The thing to look for is their poop on the leaves. If you see small "rat turds" then look just above that an you will find the culprit. Best time for me to find them is at dusk with a flash light as they stick out like a sore thumb then.

I just pull them off and stomp on them. They can eat an entire plant in as little as 6 hours. I have lost a couple Jalapeno and one Butch T to these little bastards. The good thing is the plant will bounce back, mine have.

Bill

Wasps are good to a point, not so much for eating some pest larvae and eggs, but showing you where they are. I have found that wasps don't do a thorough enough job to leave them to feast.

I hate those ,lucky they stick to my tomatoes...if there's one there's more..look for the little cylinder shaped turds and you will find them..they feed at night..and they are hard to pull off..death grip on what there eating..and if your wondering no they can't sting

I just went out again. it's been over an hour and a half, and it's head is still trying to chew. I thought when the parasitic wasps got ahold of them they were more or less paralyzed.

I went out and checked again, so far this is the only one I've seen. I have however noticed more wasps swarming around my plants than I've ever seen before. maybe they know something I don't know. either way, wasps are predators so as long as they don't decide that I'm an enemy and come after me, I'm happy to have them around.

No. Not the white LINES -- those are just markings. look at the pic -- definite difference between markings and pupae.

Although I'm totally into the beneficial insects taking care of the "pests," hormworms and other caterpillars I don't screw around with -- once my seedlings are outside and established, I start using BT on a 2-3 week schedule. This way, they don't ever get too large for the BT NOT to work on them.

Some people hand pick them...not me. They blend in so well, i can't ever see them. Not in the middle of the day in plain sight, nor at night with a blacklight.

By the way, the wasps that you want are tiny... you probably don't see them. Either way, even the large normal wasp is a predator, I believe.

Kevin

I have a theory, and I may be completely off base on this, but it's a theory.

after I used my scissors to cut the head off the one I saw, the wasps swarmed. I think they're attracted to the scent of caterpillar guts. never in the few weeks I've lived here have I seen so many wasps in my back yard. I initially thought maybe they're attracted to the scent of caterpillar poo, but they didn't swarm until after I cut its head off and the guts started spilling out.

and when I say they swarmed, I mean there were at least 20 wasps crawling all over every single plant in my yard, above and below every leaf. I suspect that if there were any others on any of the plants, the wasps got them. also every time I go out, there's a wasp on the head and body of the dead one, feasting away.

I did see one tiny wasp too. I have crazy good vision (well beyond 20/20) it's just my hearing that sucks (too many rock concerts in my teenage years).

also, I think I know what caused him to show up. I made a post last night that included the phrase "all is well in my garden." bugs must have a GW account, and saw my bold claim. it's not just the caterpillars, I've seen a bunch of japanese beetles on my plants today, and the ants are swarming. lots of other random I did see a big clump of lacewing eggs though. hopefully the ants leave them alone long enough for them to hatch.

even though I think the wasps got them all, I'll still be out there tonight with a flashlight.

so here's the question: this thing was a caterpillar, right? but it was huge. what the heck kind of butterfly comes out of that thing? mothra?
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130418020514/maditsmadfunny/images/1/16/Mothra1.jpg

I have a theory, and I may be completely off base on this, but it's a theory.

after I used my scissors to cut the head off the one I saw, the wasps swarmed. I think they're attracted to the scent of caterpillar guts. never in the few weeks I've lived here have I seen so many wasps in my back yard. I initially thought maybe they're attracted to the scent of caterpillar poo, but they didn't swarm until after I cut its head off and the guts started spilling out.

and when I say they swarmed, I mean there were at least 20 wasps crawling all over every single plant in my yard, above and below every leaf. I suspect that if there were any others on any of the plants, the wasps got them. also every time I go out, there's a wasp on the head and body of the dead one, feasting away.

I did see one tiny wasp too. I have crazy good vision (well beyond 20/20) it's just my hearing that sucks (too many rock concerts in my teenage years).

also, I think I know what caused him to show up. I made a post last night that included the phrase "all is well in my garden." bugs must have a GW account, and saw my bold claim. it's not just the caterpillars, I've seen a bunch of japanese beetles on my plants today, and the ants are swarming. lots of other random I did see a big clump of lacewing eggs though. hopefully the ants leave them alone long enough for them to hatch.

even though I think the wasps got them all, I'll still be out there tonight with a flashlight.

so here's the question: this thing was a caterpillar, right? but it was huge. what the heck kind of butterfly comes out of that thing? mothra?
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130418020514/maditsmadfunny/images/1/16/Mothra1.jpg

I seriously doubt that regular wasps are doing the same thing as the brachonid wasps. Normal wasps(ones you can see) and yellow jackets are somewhat of scavengers though -- probably why they're going after the recently departed hornworm.

Actually, They're not all that large of moth compared to a lot of other moths and butterflies. Click on the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hawk moth/sphinx moth

I get these on my tomatoes, but have never seen one on peppers - amazing!

Moths lay the eggs. I read that they are laid in the fall and hatch in the spring/summer. The moths are beautiful and buzz flowers like a hummingbird.

To torture a few worms once, I let my kids have them. The worms ended up in a butterfly habitat and one formed a cocoon-thingey like a butterfly. The thing ended up dying but was still beautiful.

Dear god why was this creature made. My wife almost died laughing at me over one. Caterpillars are my only phobia. (I've caught 14 rattlesnakes barehanded so far this year out my yard...go figure) last time I saw one it crawled on my foot...6 foot 4 inches tall 200lbs of screaming grown man running out the garden while my wife was in tears laughing...seven dust seams to work for me. If all else fail break out the 9mm and start war. Lol

Sevin works short term. Over the long run, you're killing all the beneficials also. Which creates more problems that one begins with.

When I talk to people who use Sevin, I try to talk them out of using it -- So, scgreenthumb, Stop it! ;)

Kevin

I'll second the Bt (comes as a powder called Dipel dust or as a liquid spray, Thurgicide is the one I know)... It's organic and works on all caterpillars, but only caterpillars. Very effective. It is also useful for cabbage worms, army worms, bag worms, basically any caterpillar in any of your gardens. Then you don't have to go out looking for them.

so far I have not seen any other caterpillars. I think the wasps did the trick. I wasn't saying that the "regular" wasps (the angry stingy kind) were doing the same thing as the parasitic wasps, I was saying they were looking to eat the caterpillars, which is fine by me, as long as they leave me alone.

today I only saw one wasp, still munching away on the caterpillar carcass.

I told my wife that the caterpillar turned into a moth not a butterfly, and suddenly she's no longer mad at me for killing it. she only likes bugs that are "cute"

Its a really cool moth, though!! Seriously. Not that I let them live in my garden, but it is up there with the butterflies if you ask me :P

scgreenthumb1987 I think you will appreciate this story most. These monsters have a defense mechanism!! I was out with a girlfriend looking at the tomatoes and having a toke and we noticed a big fat hornworm. I was going to put it in a jar because it was such a monster, so I attempted to pick it up by hand (despite the girl screaming and hiding behind a tree when i reached out to touch it). It was surprisingly strong and gripped the branch so I pulled just slightly and BOOM the caterpillar flung its head in a big circle and shot brown-black SLUDGE all over me and in every direction. Now I am not afraid of caterpillars, but this scared the crap out of me, "OH WHAT THE ****!!" I screamed as I jumped about 10 feet backwards and the girl ran screaming into the house. Needless to say I have adopted the scissor method.

Luckily I have only found two this season, although one ate half of a 3 foot pepper plant overnight :(

plucked this one tonight. notice the wasp eggs

Awesome ky! Biocontrol is alive and well in your garden! How much damage did it cause before you plucked it?

Kevin

woohooman Show me a better pest cure that works for as many different bugs seven does for the same price (8$) and I'll convert lol

Umm... you can do some seed swaps here on GW for free or for the price of a SASBE to create an insectary so you let the good bugs do the job for you.

Just this year, my arsenal is down to BT, occasional jets of water and soap for aphids and whitflies, and I haven't even used the neem oil I bought at the beginning of the season.

I attribute this to me making a concerted effort to plant beneficial attracting plants that will flower at different times throughout the year. And this was with my first attempt of flowers being wiped out by gophers.

Research Integrated Pest Management...you'll learn tons.

Don't take this wrong please. But anybody using Sevin is clearly missing the basics of "pest" control. If you need more info, feel free to ask.

:)

Kevin

I have to agree with Kevin, I am a gardener of only a few years but on my first I remember endlessly spraying for whiteflies and aphids and then giving up. A few weeks after I gave up, and the garden looked pest ridden and horrible, the beneficials started to do their job and by the end of the season I had a normal garden. I did buy a couple batches of ladybugs to help out once I figured out what was going on.

It puts you on a bad cycle in which you kill all or most of the bugs on your plants, including the beneficials. The problem is that the pests tend to recolonize faster and more of them tend to exist than beneficials in the first place. Nature is designed well, if you let it work it will tend to benefit your garden.

Obviously there are exceptions when pesticides can save a garden, but I am yet to use a single drop of anything this season or last. I do have small amounts of flea beatles, whiteflies, aphids and etc present, however my plants are flourishing because said pests are controlled by the mantids, ladybugs and the like that I allow to exist.

My favorite are the tiny wasps that annihilate aphid populations.

My biggest pest this year was stink bugs and (I was told) squash maggots. (I'd cut up a ripe squash and would find 3-5 maggots in it. With no holes in the skin. ) I've got a Buddy who uses all natural everything and I got 3 times more out of half the garden than him due to seven dust and miracle grow.....can you top it?

Scgreenthumb:

Stink bugs ---http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r783300211.html

So, allysum(although, I'm sure there are plenty more types of flowers and/or herbs) closely planted to the plants will attract parasites to control stink bugs.
Squash bugs -- http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74144.html

So, it appears the tachinid fly can control them. Allysum will attract those also.

Your buddy may have used all-natural everything, and that may be a problem also. Just because a pesticide is labeled "organic" doesn't mean it doesn't kill beneficials. A lot of the organic ones are wide spectrum killers just like Sevin. The idea of biocontrol is to only whip out the pesticides when the natural enemies aren't enough to control the pests. And, even then, it should done in a progression of the LEAST harmful pesticide on up.

For example, for the squash bugs from the UC IPM website---

______________________________
Biological Control

The parasitic tachinid fly Trichopoda pennipes, which lays its eggs on squash bugs, has been introduced into California and may be found in some gardens. Look for the eggs of this parasite on the undersides of squash bugs.
Chemical Control

Squash bugs are difficult to kill using insecticides because egg masses, nymphs, and bugs are often hidden near the crown of the plant and difficult to reach with sprays. Several insecticides are available that are less toxic to the environment including products containing soaps and oils such as neem oil, horticultural oil, and canola oil. These soaps and oils are most effective on the smallest nymphs, but good penetration throughout the canopy is essential so that nymphs under the leaves and deep within plants will be covered. Other more toxic pesticides are also registered for use on squash bugs; however, these materials should be used with caution because of negative impacts on bees and beneficial insects such as predators and parasites that help to keep other pest insects and mites in check. In addition, they are not likely to give better control than handpicking combined with softer chemicals.
_______________________

I emphasize the the last paragraph.

So, back to your buddy. Perhaps he, too, needs to start creating an insectary himself. Once you establish one, you want to ease off the pesticides, organic or not.

But like phildeez said, sometimes a pesticide NEEDS to be used. At that point, one should use the most "target" specific one available. Not a broad spectrum one like Sevin. Defeats all the efforts of creating a well balanced garden with enemies to the pests.

oh.. and i was wrong about my arsenal -- I recently have been using ant baits to take care of an ant problem before I purchase some lacewing eggs(the ants will eat them). My insectary isn't quite where I want it to attract lacewings en masse so I'm going to purchase some. They are a great all-around predator.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

I'm with Kevin. I *have* Sevin and bunch of other gnarly chemicals, but haven't used a single one this year or last. My yields are fine. (Btw, no hornworms this year. Perhaps my encouraging of the waspy anti-parasites had paid off.]

OTOH, before I sold off the tomatoes in frustration, I would have used a .30-06 had I had one to hand. [damn deers!]

Dennis

so far no new ones. but I have seen some of these guys. what is it? I love how good of pictures my phone takes.