I had a couple of visitors today....

[JayPoc]

The first one seems to have good intentions....



Did you see her?





But I found a few of these guys that definitely had BAD intentions. Sad, cause these are really sort of beautiful....

[rainbowgardener]

As caterpillars go, the hornworms are nice looking ones. And the moth they turn into is huge and beautiful:



sphinx moth

[JayPoc]

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll stick this here...I've found several of these the last few days. Nature's sentries have come to my defense. I don't think I've ever seen one quite so heavily affected...it was late in the day and hard to get a good crisp photo....

[KitchenGardener]

Wow, you really have sentries on duty! Maybe it makes it easier knowing that you don't have to look as carefully to find and kill them, as you have some major assistance.

[JayPoc]

The timing doesn't really work out. I only start seeing the wasps chipping in very late in the season. Those stupid horn worms must grow exponentially. I'm pretty diligent about keeping an eye out, but it seems I go from no damage, to no damage, to no damage, to a 4" long worm that eats half a plant over night.

[applestar]

They are also ninjas. I have several plants that I KNOW must be hosting hornworms -- I see the disappearing leaves, a small grazed bit here and there on green fruits... But CANNOT for the life of me find them.

...of course, sometimes, it's because the birds have been there ahead of me. Usually, if I hear the cardinal hunting, I can relax.