Where??

Lol... I didn't answer because I thought it was just me who couldn't find it in the pic.

LOL, rhizo!

Here:

I can barely read captions on the TV without my glasses on but a bug...I can spot from two miles away LOL. My boyfriend always comments that I extraordinary peripheral vision for movement, and I am certain it's developed because of my dislike (hatred, fear, disgust, phobia?) of bugs.

Wow, glasses or not, you must have good eyes for detecting bugs! Even with the arrows I can't get a clear perspective on which is the bug, which are the leaves, and which is the reflection in the support. Excellent camouflage on the bug's part.

Rgreen, see that white piece against the tomato cage bar? That is the leg....the head is toward the bottom and its butt end is north. :) I ran back out with my DSLR to get you a good shot since this having been taken by an iPad didn't help. But he, she, it is gone. I still wonder what other "probable pest" I have in my yard now. With my pest luck this year, it's probably a damn locust! (I'm kidding. It's not. I went to Sunday school and do know what locusts look like...and I swear I saw one just a couple of weeks back lol.)

Well, if it looks like a leaf and that's the leg, I'll guess that it's a katydid of one kind or another.

Does this help?

i tried editing and rotating:

What a difference! Is that really the same pic? From that image it looks like a praying mantis. Hopefully it's still there somewhere.

It was another picture taken at the same time but I chose the first because, ironically, I thought this was too dark, lol. And this one, I flipped then edited the lighting.

I could have sworn praying mantis(es)...manti?.... were significantly longer....I've had a couple residents on my basil plants. This one has a very rounded bottom half, like a bee. Then again, I suppose there could be many different kinds of praying mantis?

If it is, I'd be ecstatic!!!! They eat hornworms, don't they? I can't get a duck or chicken due to HOA but PMs kind of eat everything...right? I should go buy tends of them!

I did an image search, and some do have rounded bottoms. maybe she's pregnant?

https://www.google.com/search?q=praying+mantis&biw=1111&bih=875&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIx6yd_KCJxwIVA4sNCh2oNAgD

You are just the bearer of good news in more ways than one, rgreen. Thank you! Thank you! :-D

No other critter has a similar appearance, praying mantid it is. HOWEVER! They kill and devour far more benefials insects in my gardens than pests....I consider them the enemy. :-(

I've watched them snatch bees and butterflies from flowers, for example. They aren't particularly interested in aphids or whiteflies, my main problems.

I used to try taking them from the flower beds to the veggie garden only to see them fly back as soon as I walked away, lol.

If I find a pile of butterfly wings on the ground, I go a-hunting for the culprit.

With eyesight like yours & "heck no" attitude, you'll probably find any hornworms & dispatch them yourself. :+)

Lol, you're right about Grace, Tiffany!

Grace, most of us have a hard time finding those big green hornworms devouring our tomato plants but I'll bet that you can locate them pronto. I toss mine into the bird bath for the robins or cardinals to find.

Tomato Horn Worms are up there with ticks on my hate&hit list. Best time to catch them is early morning, starting at dawn. I researched the lifecycle, from moth to nasty worm, and now keep them at bay by soil control. The moth lays her eggs which develop as larvae in the soil at the base of the tomato plant. I Iook for these nests of mushy larvae and remove the whole nest before they can develop into the worm. I used to delight in dropping them into a jar of vinegar which I kept in the garden. My grandson thought that jar was the greatest (UGH) and loved showing it off to his friends.

gbherons, I'm not sure what insect you are referring to but you've not described the lifecycle of a tobacco/tomato hornworm. At all.

The female lays her eggs directly on the foliage or stem, one at a time but she may lay several here and there. Tiny larvae hatch and begin feeding immediately and voraciously.

As they reach a certain age/size, the hornworms will crawl to the ground and wander around until they find a suitable place to dig in and pupate. They may or may not select a spot near the tomato plant, and they don't make nests....just the brown pupae.

The most successful ways to control these pests is by looking for the little pearl-like eggs and squishing them, and patrolling the plants periodically to remove caterpillars. I think that the eggs are easier to spot than the caterpillars!

Pupae can be disposed of if discovered somewhere in the soil....I toss the adults into the birdbath for my birds.

Rhizo, I've not seen any larvae I can identify. I have found a couple weird looking things hanging/dangling from the leaf but I toss it as fast as I can so have no clue what they are or were lol.

Be it ground or on the plant, the only thing I will notice is the live worm. The only reason I even noticed the hanging cocoon like things is because I prune my tomatoes and it dangles. Very gross.