Moths/butterflies on tomatoes

[cookn4u]

I'm new to the forum so here goes.

I live in the Midwest and we've had an awful year for tomatoes. I do use the Earth Box system and have had great luck for several years. This year they've not produced as many or as big a tomato as usual, but they had been fine tasting.


Today, I arrive home and look out in my back yard, and I see tons of butterflies all over my tomatoes. I think, that's unusual. Then I see literally hundreds of dragonflies all over my yard. Another unusual sighting. I go out to check the tomatoes and they have been decimated by what appears to be the moth. I've done some checking on line and I thought I might have hummingbird moths, but these are not all the same. There's different types. I find one tomato with a worm in it and throw it away and then picked off the remaining tomatoes that were affected. Almost every one on 5 different plants were ruined. After looking at pictures online, I don't believe I've got the hummingbird moth, but I'm not sure what I've got.

Any thoughts on what might have happened overnight?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[rainbowgardener]

Can you get any pictures of the moths and of the damaged tomatoes?

Here's instructions how to post pictures here.

[url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724]posting pictures here[/url]

[TZ -OH6]

It sounds like you have tomato fruitworms, which are the same as corn earworms. If the damage is done before the fruit is ripe and you remove the worm the wound will generally callus over and the fruit will ripen without rotting, you can just cut the wound off then. The worms start out eating leaves when little and then move on to the fruit, often being close to the stem of the fruit. The dark form worms will also hide against dark objects during the day like the stake or cage wire.


Beet Armyworms are worse because the moth lays dozens of eggs at one time and you don't notice the many many little worms, and when they get larger the damage is fast.

Spraying the plants with BT (Bonide Thuricide etc) will kill the worms.

[gixxerific]

Do they look like [url=https://www.avrdc.org/LC/tomato/fruitworm.html]this[/url]?

[applestar]

I'm sorry about your tomatoes. I hope you are able to salvage your crop.

I do have to note how cool it is that the dragonflies had swarmed in response to the pest moths (I think they were moths) in your garden. I imagine a lot of the adults were eaten. So you just have to concentrate on the eggs and larvae.

In my garden, I have a pretty healthy population of trichogrammas, braconids, and tachnids -- they all parasitize butterfly/moth eggs and larvae -- not to mention larger resident wasps and other predators that eat the caterpillars.

Right now, my biggest problem is Stinkbugs and Harlequin bugs. I'm hoping a Garden Patrol Task Force will respond soon. In the meantime, I'm stomping on them by handfuls....

[gixxerific]

We have tons of dragonflies as well but they aren't keeping up. I have been thinking about this. Seeing mass dragons are good to an extent. Because if you see them that means there is something for them to eat. If there is something for them to eat that means you have the bad guy's around more than likely. SO it's a catch 22 but better to have the good guy's than JUST the bad guy's.

[cookn4u]

Thanks for all your replies! The one worm I saw was definitely a tomato hornworm, I'm sure.

What is interesting is that I heard from others in my local area that had exactly the same problem yesterday. Neighbors saw these same hordes of moths and dragonflies. My brother who lives approximately 15 miles away had exactly the same problem. He has a pool and thought it was some strange infestation, too. All of us have lived in the area for many years and no one can recall ever seeing anything like it before.

Today, they are all gone! None to be found anywhere. It was a strange occurrence..............a little too twilight zone for me!

[stella1751]

Do they look like [url=https://www.avrdc.org/LC/tomato/fruitworm.html]this[/url]?

Wow. I have a new understanding of why you are frustrated by your tomatoes, Gix. Those are disgusting critters!

I found a mature fruitworm on one of my tomato plants last July. If that is what is making worm holes in my tomatoes, I will weep. It just ain't fair!

[rainbowgardener]

You folks answered a question for me... the tomato fruitworm IS the stripey worm I saw in a few tomatoes at the CSA farm. At least next time I will know what it is!


But cook your appearance and disappearance of swarms is very strange...

[gixxerific]

RBG this thread answered a ? for me as well. I found some worms and didn't think much of it. they were removed but coming onto this thread I did the research and found out that is what they were .

That and hormworms as well, oh and cucumber beetles (striped and spotted) and SVB and squash bugs and stink bugs and...........

[gixxerific]

Where the moths/butterflies brown/light tan a little bigger than quarter with and eye like coloring at the top of the wing?

I found 3 of them chowing down on a mator after work today. I swooshed them away and than thought I should have taken a pic first. I just went out there and they are not there right now. I live in Mo so maybe it is the same thing. They had torn that tomato up. They were teaming up with a spotted cuke beetle as well which are running rampant around my garden.

[Yardbirder]

I've had a problem with butterfly damage on tomatoes, too. Run a search for images of the Hackberry Butterfly. They attack our tomatoes as soon as they are ripe. I had to start picking tomatoes when they first started to turn colors and let them fully ripen in the house to beat them to the punch. Good luck.

[engineeredgarden]

Any moth found in the tomato section of my garden is eliminated...

EG