That would be a hornworm (ick) and the white things on him are the larvae of a parasitic wasp (good)

The larvae will kill it. He's already a goner.

I've been plucking hornworms (no wasps. :( ) constantly. I HATE those things. -_-

sorry, the title was to be " Bug ID"...perhaps it's residual from the weekend...i know, poor joke. :)

That guy is a Tobacco Hornworm. He has a close cousin, the Tomato Hornworm. They're identical except for slightly different white markings on the sides. They can reach 3-4" in length, and are the larvae of related types of large moths.

They love tomatoes -- leaves, stems, flowers, and fruit. At that size, they're capable of an amazing amount of destruction in a day. Sometimes you first notice their presence by their frass -- dark droppings that seem too large for caterpillars.

It's usually easier to hand-pick them. If you don't like to cut them in half (I can't bring myself to do that) and you can get them off the stem (easier when they're small), you can drown them in a jar of water with a few drops of liquid soap. (The soap breaks the surface tension so the caterpillar can't float to the side of the jar and climb out.) Sometimes with the big ones, it's impossible to detach them, so you either have to kill them where they are or cut off the branch.

Another possibility is Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki. It's lethal to caterpillars (though not to other larvae that only look like caterpillars, like the Pine Sawfly larvae that ate my Mugo pines) but won't harm anything else (including you). Make sure you get Bt kurstaki, as there are other Bt's sold for other purposes which don't kill caterpillars. You can buy Bt kurstaki labelled as such, or a product labelled as a caterpillar-killer which contains Btk.

However, by the time they're large, it may be too late to use Bt on them -- plus the Bt doesn't have an immediate effect, and they can eat quite a bit in a day, and you never know if they'll eat a few leaves next or your largest almost-ripe tomatoes.

littleum is right about your hornworm with the cocoons. He'll die and won't be able to turn into a moth and breed a new generation of caterpillars.

Birds love these guys, so another tactic is to encourage birds in your garden by placing water and feeding stations nearby.

Something else you can do is to dig up the ground at the end of the season; that will kill many/most of the pupae formed by any caterpillars you didn't catch.

But when all is said and done, you have no control over the moths that fly in from outside your yard. Well, I spose you could try to educate your neighbors.

thank you littleum. and you said a mouthful. "ick". i don't even water my plants as i can't stand to go near them. and missingtheobvious i'll definitely take you up on the bird feeding (hand picking, i cannot do...much less). i'm sorry to hear about your mugo pines. i wouldn't imagine catapillars eating pines. it's ashame there isn't anything yet known or invented that speaks to moth control/prevention. it's been a challenging and fun growing season. however, as they say, the honeymoon is over. uggh. i do have another question: how is it i find a new bug each day. are they coming up from the soil as missintheobvious suggested. thank you both for your much appreciated imput.

sandpebbles, you're finding a new hornworm each day because their camouflage is so good. 8-(

I was emotionally scarred as a child by seeing too many hornworms. That's not entirely exaggeration -- when I grew tomatoes in my twenties, my mother had to kill the hornworms for me; I couldn't even look at them (or the pieces she cut them into). [Hey, at least I'm not afraid of dogs or snakes like my little brother.]

Now I live alone and I'm the only protection my tomato plants have. If I catch the hornworms when they're smaller, they're much easier to deal with, and a lot less traumatic.

The Pine Sawfly larvae ate about 25% of the needles on only two of the Mugo pines (which are still very young). It's the top branches, so it's quite noticeable. Luckily, Pine Sawfly larvae don't eat the buds that will produce next spring's needles, so the pines will recover. I keep a closer eye on them now.

Pine Sawfly larvae are every bit as horrific as hornworms. Little yellow caterpillar-impersonators that sway in synch like some nightmarish dance group (I am not kidding). I sprayed them with isopropyl alcohol, and they stopped dancing -- permanently.

The hornworm turns into quite the fasinating "Humminbird Moth". That being said they are very destructive to tomatoes. I try to live with all creatures somewhat in my garden. Once you get used to them, the "ick" factor goes away a bit. My daughers, ages 12- 31 were terrified of them until I showed them how interesting they really are. Just cut the branch and toss and a bird or mother nature will take it's course. I had a good many in my hoophouse this year and still not have to resort to any chemical (organic or otherwise) measures to deal with them. Now snakes, would be a different story all together.

hello again. missingtheobvious, i'm glad to hear you were able to recover some of your mugo pines. sounds like isopropyl is the new household staple. :) today, i noticed what appears to be a baby horrific worm. so ofcourse i immediately looked over at the largest one and i felt my knees go weak. i have a pecular family member coming over who's fascinated by that sorta of stuff. sounds like she may have met you gardener1908. :) i'm sure i'll appreciate her special skill sets this weekend. might i ask you how they got into your hoophouse. i have noticed some beautiful butterflies around lately. is that's where they're coming from. my god. as far as snakes, occasionally we hear of sightings. they seem to come out after it rains alot. and although i know you're right, i think my tomato season is done. tell me. could those things lay eggs in my peppers. i haven't seen them in my peppers as yet. i have however seen a very tiny frog hanging around my pimento plants. otherwise, no horror worms. i was thinking, would a netting over my tomatoes help with prevention for next season.