These caterpillars blend in well with the foliage they are chowing down on, so it can be difficult to spot the larvae themselves. The caterpillars feed until late summer or early fall before pupating for the winter. They deposit their eggs on solanaceous plants, preferring tomatoes over all others. The second generation emerge as adults in midsummer, when your tomatoes are growing happily. These sizable pests finish two generations per season, overwintering as pupae and emerging in the spring as adult moths.įemales lay eggs on leaf surfaces, where the caterpillars will begin to feed once they’ve hatched.Ĭaterpillars feed and grow quickly, reaching their maximum size in three to four weeks, at which point they drop off the plant to pupate in the soil. The adults have six yellow spots on each side of the abdomen, not five like M. They also feast on other nightshade crops including peppers, eggplants, potatoes, and even tobacco. The tobacco hornworm caterpillar, however, has diagonal white lines on its sides, and a reddish colored horn on the last abdominal segment. Tomato hornworms are invasive garden pests that feed on the foliage (and sometimes fruit) of tomato plants.
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