Also, I'm hoping upside down means I avoid the fungus that devastated the tomato crop in NY State around my area last year. No, sorry. Upside down makes no difference (nor will it have any impact on pests). That was Late Blight and it is caused by an airborne fungus. Advice was to either not plant this year or plant in another area. You don't mention the source of that info but Late Blight doesn't over-winter except in live tissue - lots of discussions here about it. Planting and even planting in the same location isn't an issue with LB. Folks in the worst hit parts of the country are planting this year. Check out the previous discussions here as many of them contain links to scientific resources on the questions you have raised and will be reassuring to you. As to what to plant with your plants? I would suggest no additional plants. You will have enough to deal with without compounding it with additional plants. Dave

Hornworms also eat fruit - just like that. But so do other things - birds if they have access, if low to the ground then squirrels or turtles. You don't indicate your location or zone (please do when you post) but here the hornworms have started so they may be there too. Dave

I found one of these the other day on my tomato plant. I guess they like any of the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants), however rarely is it something you need to control. Unless you are infested, or see a ton of damage, I wouldn't worry about it - I'm certainly not! I'm going to just keep an eye on the plants - see if I notice any severe damage. There has been very minimal thus far.

Here are a bunch of thrip pics to compare to your insect but from what I can see from your photos I don't think they are thrips. I'm more inclined to agree with Jean that the insects are just coincidence and more likely just one of the group often called 'sweat bees' which are good pollinators. And that the real problem is a case of "blossom drop". Blossom Drop this time of year is about 100x more likely than thrips. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom Drop FAQ