Go to any good nursery, ask for B.T. It is very effective against caterpillars and won't harm people, pets, or beneficial insects. The product is usually labled Dipel or Thuricide, though there are many brand names. Only negative is that it doesn't last long--you'll probably have to apply it often.

Hi, down here in Florida we seem to have some tough bugs. I never had any luck using Dipel or Thuricide. I ran some tests were I sprayed Thuricide on some cut off tomato leaves and put the leaves in a jar along with the caterpillars. (Note - on none of the test I ran did I spray or dust the caterpillars, just the cut leaves) Five days later the caterpillars were still alive. It did seem to slow them down some but not fully control them. I removed the treated leaves and one of the caterpillars fully recovered. I repeated the test using Dipel with the same results.

On the last test I brought out the shot gun (Sevin) and had all the caterpillars dead within 24 hours.

So now I only use the shot gun and I only spray just the sections of the plant that has a major infestation. If I see just a few larger caterpillars I will pick them by hand and smash them.

Later, DC

Go with BT, It will take care of them also safe to use. :)

BT is excellent and works GREAT against caterpillars. I wonder if Delta Cahrlie's batch had expired? It has never NOT worked for me.

What you have is tomato fruitworm. Link below has pics and details for you to review. I also find that BT (Dipel) works great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Fruitworms

Dipel/Thuricide does not work effectively on all caterpillars. Tomato Fruitworms and hornworms are best controlled at young stages. Bt works best on cabbageworm/loopers.

It takes time, especially with more mature ones, for the process of the bacteria in their guts to start working. Thus one will not see the kind of response they would with neurotoxic pesticides. So effectiveness depends on how much they eat and at what stage they eat it.

As more companies continue to produce Bt engineered crops, especially corn, more resistance is being seen (tomato fruitworms = corn earworms).

You might try looking into some of the trap methods for the adult moths. They arent perfect but can reduce the populations. IPM sites generally have this info - see also "corn earworm"

Do you have so many that squishing or cutting them with scissors won't help any?

well ive inly seen a couple. I kill them when I see them. but by the time I see them they have already destroyed the tomato. I only have two plants, and not many fruits.

It was said:
"I never had any luck using Dipel or Thuricide."

Another person said:
" Dipel/Thuricide does not work effectively on all caterpillars. Tomato Fruitworms and hornworms are best controlled at young stages."

Actually, Bt works on the majority of caterpillars. Some resistance has been seen in agriculture when it comes to the diamond back moth.

That said, Bt is effective in the home garden if applied *before* the caterpillar is half-grown.

If applied later than that, the caterpillar will survive and become a moth/butterfly.

Hi, I would agree with this:

"That said, Bt is effective in the home garden if applied *before* the caterpillar is half-grown."

That is what I saw on the tests I ran, the smaller cats did eventually die; however, the cats in my test were captive and could not move away from the treated leaves. In the garden, unless you treat ALL the tomato and other host plants the cats will be able to move off and get away from the BT. What I tend to see in my garden is small pockets of lots of tiny fruitworms just getting started and striping off the leaves. Cutting off the infected branch and placing it in a zip bag works to some extent.

Later, DC

i am so grateful that you posted this photo and that folks here could identify this worm. i live in the south too, and have struggled with these fruitworm for as long as i've lived here and didn't know what they are. i'd rather deal with hornworms anyday, since these are impossible for me to pick off(too many) and go right for the green fruit--the hornworms seem way more polite than this. i have a real infestation at hand. i just went to the store and purchased some thuracide, which i applied in a hurry. it's thundering, so i'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain tonight. i have so many of these, i've found them on my chard (ate them down to the veins and stalks in three days), eggplant, tomatoes, echinacea and snapdragons too.

xo
kittee