I had none of those bad boys last year, I've found 3 this year. One I found and picked off before I knew what it was, covered in those wasp eggs. Once I figured out what they were and found another, I let it be. It's long gone, sitting on the tomato and hasn't moved, I'm assuming long dead. I let it be and just work around it. I finally found the one branch he ate. I found another one this morning, much smaller, no wasp eggs but he was all brown and shriveled. Not sure what got him! I've had tons of wasps in my garden this year and not once has one paid any attention to me.

Having trouble keeping the two hornworms straight? I recently heard this tall tale and will never forget which is which again: The tobacco hornworm likes to smoke tobacco products so much that he has cigarette shaped markings on his side (the straight diagonal lines). The tomato hornworm does not like tobacco....maybe is even an ex-smoker. He has broken cigarettes (V shaped markings) adorning his sides. I've found lots of these caterpillers on tomatoes and a few on potatoes, but never found any on the nearby peppers even though all three are favorite foods. After seeing what's left of your pepper, I'm glad they never made it to my peppers. Tomatoes always grow much quicker for me and still stand a chance after the hornworms. The peppers would probably be done for the year.

The big beautiful moths don't have much of a problem finding host plants. Really, no big mystery. The moths that emerge from those pupae usually do so before the tomato plants go in. The moths are active nectar feeders. The moths that lay eggs on your tomato plants (and there may be many) can come from afar. Sorry. Learn to look for and identify the little pearl like eggs on the leaves. Squish them on a regular basis and you'll not have any catetpillars.

Hank, You can treat your plants with Bt, which is Bacillus thuringensis, variety kurstaki, which is a naturally occurring bacteria. It is found in products labeled as caterpillar killers and can be purchased either as a powder or liquid. The kurstaki strain of Bt kills not only tomato hornworms, but also other garden pests like cabbage worms, cabbage loopers, European corn borers, corn earworms and tomato fruitworms (which I think are the same worm), and both spring and fall cankerworms. There are other forms of Bt available, including the San Diego strain, which kills Colorado potato beetles and the Isralensis strain, which kills mosquito larvae, fungas gnats and black flies. The downside to using the Bt kurstaki caterpillar killer is that it will kill ALL the butterflies and moths, not just the undesirable ones. For that reason, many people no longer use it. I haven't used it for years, now, since I prefer to have the butterflies and moths around me in the garden. The fall is an especially bad time to use Bt, as the monarchs are migrating through our state at this time, and the use of Bt threatens their existence. I have been out in the garden a lot the last few weeks, and it is full of all kinds of moths and butterflies, including the sphinx moths for whom hornworms are the larvae. In a garden that has 40 or so tomato plants still healthy and producing tomatoes, I have seen hornworm damage on only one plant. Do I like seeing hornworm damage on my tomato plants and fruits? No, absolutely not. However, I tolerate the damage because I love the moths. In fact, I plant other plants like datura, four o'clocks, moonvines, and nicotine specifically FOR the moths. If the hornworms are doing what you consider unacceptable damage, you can pick them off the plants and squish them. Bt works, obviously, but the tradeoff is that it will kill all the butterflies and moths exposed to it. Your choice. Dawn