what is this

[moghue]

A friend of mine just brought me in this catipillar and it has what looks like eggs on its back. Can anyone tell me first what type of catippilar it is and what the heck is all over its back

 

[JP77]

That is a tomato hornworm and the white things on its back are cocoons from a parasitic wasp which will kill the hornworm when they emerge. http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/hornworm.htm

 

[moghue]

Thanks i kind of figured it was some kind of parasite, are they easy to get off or should i just leave it be.

 

[soundspawn]

Thanks i kind of figured it was some kind of parasite, are they easy to get off or should i just leave it be.

Depends on if you want 1 hornworm or if you want 150 wasps. I think you can pluck them off at this point, just get fine tweezers. Worst you can do is kill the hornworm, and if you do nothing he's as good as dead already.

 

[moghue]

i think i will let nature take its course on this one.

 

[dmina]

I think I would too...

but it was interesting to see...

Thanks for sharing...

 

[soundspawn]

Hornworm log, day 17:

Sticky rice on my back still sticky. Heard rumor that it's not rice and I'm about to be eaten alive from the inside. Thought his new human keeper might help me out, but now he's acting detached. I'm sure this will all work out somehow.

 

[dmina]

LOL... yeah... **it happens! survival of the fittest ... at it's worst...

 

[Digger]

Hope the hornworm dies a slow death. They devastate my beautiful gymongous petunia hangers until the plants are flowerless straggles. I've fed a few to the mantids, but not completely sure how healthy these bastar## are for my pets.

 

[moghue]

Yea i have become detached from him lol sometimes nature just needs to take its course

 

[Sticky]

I would put into the freezer. I kill parasites when I get the chance.

 

[soundspawn]

I would put into the freezer. I kill parasites when I get the chance.

It's funny apparently these hornworms are quite the pest and people revere these wasps as a godsend. Parasite or no, they are considered beneficial =D

 

[moghue]

im def going to let them hatch out and release them around my garden and my wifes flower beds. i pretty much like all insects but i also enjoy seeing nature do its work.

 

[Sticky]

Sadly the wasps attack other caterpillars that arent pests.

 

[soundspawn]

Sadly the wasps attack other caterpillars that arent pests.

I'm not familiar with any "non pest" caterpillar, or even a method other than arbitrary/aesthetic that one could separate caterpillars in to two groups like that. Maybe the monarch?

 

[Sticky]

The big silkmoths are non pests. They dont eat thier food like gypsy caterpillars do. Cecropia,luna, polyphemus etc live far from eachother and dont stip the trees. The cecropia is vulnerable to parasites as they only eclose and lay eggs once a year.the other silkmoths that have multiple generations a year are less at risk.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Caterpillars cause billions of agricultural damage a year, with only a few that are beneficial. Even though they grow into butterflies and moths which pollinate they do FAR more harm than good.

http://www.plumasnews.com/index.php/12840-caterpillar-invasion-sparks-wildfire-worries-for-plumas-residents#!/ccomment-comment356

 

[soundspawn]

Caterpillars cause billions of agricultural damage a year, with only a few that are beneficial. Even though they grow into butterflies and moths which pollinate they do FAR more harm than good.

http://www.plumasnews.com/index.php/12840-caterpillar-invasion-sparks-wildfire-worries-for-plumas-residents#!/ccomment-comment356

I think I could just as easily accept silkworms as the sole non-pest as I could dismiss them outright since they can only exist in captivity. If they are dismissed, I think all caterpillars are pests. Or put another way, all caterpillars that can even possibly live in the wild are pests. The examples above I see as examples of where their damage is lower than "normal" because their population is under control, but their behavior is still pest-like.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Also, JP77 got his identification wrong. The caterpillar moghue caught is a Tobacco horn worm, not a Tomato horn worm. I see them all the time in my yard and just found a 3 inch one today. Here are the differences.

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Pests/tomato.htm