Insect treatments will remove the beneficial insects too--they don't differentiate between good bugs and bad ones.

Try setting out a Japanese Beetle trap and see what happens.

I used to live in SE PA where we had a ton of Japanese Beetles. So far, I haven't noticed any beetles of any kind on the leaves or in the soil. I do notice the holes in the leaves about 8 inches and up from the soil. Above that, the leaves are fine. Basically the affected area is the leaves and branches that were originally sitting on top of the soil, but since the plant has grown considerably since transplanting to the big pot, they are no longer touching the dirt.

If the only damage is a some holes in the lower leaves then it wouldn't seem to be a major problem, right? More just appearance rather than harmful to the plant?

If that is so then I'd think it best to just monitor it rather than applying some pesticide for an unknown pest. The lower leaves (those below the first cluster of fruit) aren't needed by the plant for production and are best removed anyway so you can always remove those and keep trying to ID the pest if more holes develop.

Keep us posted, ok? ;)

Dave

I will. I have been keeping an eye out for the big green worms that turn into the moth that looks like a hummingbird, but none so far. I had a few a few years ago and picked them off and took them to a field far away from my plants. Don't want to kill them, but don't want to share my tomato plants with them, either.