Around here it is prime tomato hornworm season. Every morning I go out to inspect the tomato plants and try to find the hornworms when they are just itty bitty fellows. I do it again after dark with a flashlight.
Hunting for hornworms should be getting a lot more interesting tomorrow night. I ordered a black light flashlight that is supposed to make them really show up at night. Folks use this flashlight in Arizona to see scorpions in their homes and other locations. I think we will have a lot of fun with this thing!
This is a moonflower plant. I have several of them over five feet tall. So prolific and easy to grow, too.
And I thought they were pest free until this year when I found hornworms on them. Even though they are a poisonous plant, a member of the nightshade family, the tomato hornworm seems to do fine munching away to rapid growth and on to the next stage of life. And I don't mind if they eat this plant as it grows faster than they could destroy it. I did note that the hornworms on the moonflower seem to be a paler color than when they dine on tomato plants.
This little chickadee and some friends flew in to visit while I was working in the flower bed. They really checked out the moonflower, flitting around underneath the branches. I think they were searching for the early stage hornworms that are small and probably very tasty to them. I sure do hope they come back every day!!
What about you - do you have any hornworm horror stories from your garden?
2 comments:
A few years ago I had several devil's trumpets in the garden and the hornworms
decimated one before I knew what was happening. Didn't seem to bother them one bit...
Such a shame---you really have to be diligent in searching for them. I have a hard time seeing them. Hubby is better at it than I.
Good luck!
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