Looks like a hornworm to me - congratulations! Does it look like it's poorly attached? I noticed that with the ones I've found.
They say be careful what you wish for, and you'll see what they mean when your tomato plant disappears in one night! :)
Sherry

Wooo HOOOO!!! I looks like it is just sitting right on top, like a slight tap would knock it off. I am going to isolate it and take photos of the egg developing over the next few days and of the caterpillar! Yippee!!!

I forgot to show you what a tobacco/tomato hornworm hatchling looks like. They're ghostly white, but the horn is already there -
{{gwi:468939}}
Sherry

I love the title of this topic! When I grow tomatoes, it is to feed caterpillars.

KC

Beautiful egg photo! I love hornworms and have raised about 13 different species in my own yard.

They are white when they first hatch and eat their eggshell. Once they consume the green foliage, they will turn green.

You won't know if you have a Manduca sexta (Tobacco Hornworm) or Manduca quinquemaculata (Tomato hornworm) (they both eat tomato foliage, altho I sometimes find them on/move them to Datura (same family - Solanaceae) until they hatch. The Tobacco or Carolina Sphinx hornworm has 7 white slashes and usually a red horn, altho it can be blue or yellow, and the Tomato Hornworm has 8 white chevrons and a black horn. Generally speaking, we see more of the Tobacco Hornworms east of the Rockies, with a sprinkling of Tomato Hornworms, which are most common west of the Rockies.

Both get to be very large caterpillars. When they reach the last instar, try to stop for a minute and watch one of them eat a leaf. They can devour it in no time flat. They also have Super Mario Brothers sized frass!

Both will eat other plants in the Solanaceae family, e.g., Daturas, Nicotianas, etc. My big Datura really attracts them to the yard with its big white trumpet blooms.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: The Manducas

I don't have any datura this year, but may go and get some of my sister in laws moon flower, which I believe is that family. I have been looking 2 to 3 times a day for cats or eggs. And in one day I have an egg and 3 cats! What an exciting day!

Sometimes Datura is referred to as "moonflower", but more often the moonflower people speak of is a vine in the Morning Glory genus, Ipomeae alba, which also blooms at night. In that case, it is in the Convolvulaceae family, not the Solanaceae family. I. alba is a great nectar plant, tho, for the night flying sphinx moths.

I can't wait til your babies hatch. Are you going to put them in containers to raise? One of the problems with these moths, is that their larvae are so vulnerable to parasitic wasps.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Parasitized Hornworm

Thanks so much for your information. I have it in a glass jar for now, until it hatches. After it does, I have a 15 gallon aquarium I will put it in, with some dirt on the bottom. I was worried about the parasitic wasp infecting it if I left it outside.

Those 'baby' caterpillars are the cutest things!

mschaetz, be sure to look on the underside of the leaves for more eggs and caterpillars. Many (maybe most) are overlooked because that's where the eggs are often deposited, and where those eating machines love to hang out.

Ok, what gives about tomato horn worm love?? Last year was the first encounter and I just put them in a shallow dish and let the birds grab them.

Clicked on a link and did not realize I had entered a different forum where everyone is crazy. A thousand pardons.

Sorry PunkinHeadJones! There are a few of us who like them alive :) Carol and I tease each other about it, so that is why I linked to this thread.

Lisa