Below are pictures of the tomato fruitworm/larvae. Do your pests look like any of these?

Here is a link that might be useful: Images, Tomato Fruitworms

Anney,
I don't think thats what they are. They are more grey and seem to be concentrating on the leaves.
Thanks, Tim

Tim,

Let me try again. Here's another insect pest it might be. Tomato pinworms eat leaves and make holes in the tomatoes as well. They're small and "The color varies from gray to yellowish with red or purple coloring around each segment." Tomato Pinworm

Without a picture of your pest, it's kind of like shooting in the dark!

Thanks again anney,
That may be what they are, but after seeing the pics you supplied I read about them and the damage I'm seeing seems different than what was shown. The pinworms seem to be mostly leaf miners, while mine are being eaten from the surface. I sure hope they are not pin worms. I sprayed with Bt and hopefully that will control them. Will know soon enough I guess.
Tim

Get a picture, Tim! You need to know what they are to apply the right control. BT may or may not kill them.

OK Anney,
I only have a cellphone camera and usually the pics are lousy, but I think you can see them well enough if I can figure out how to post them. Instead I sent you an e-mail.
Thanks, Tim

Okay, here's what you sent me:

Leaf Damage

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and caterpillars on the underside:

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Maybe somebody else can help as well -- I'll look again. A picture helps a lot.

Those leaves look terrible! I can see why you'd want to get rid of those buggers!

anney, how'd you post the pics?
Tim

Tim,

On my computer, I enlarged the picture with the wormy things on it, and they're definitely segmented. That narrows down the search some. Other than the tomato hornworm, which these aren't, I've seen only pinworms and fruitworms and fruitworms listed as tomato pests. Both are segmented with dark heads, but I think the fruitworm is larger than the pinworm.

If it's a tomato fruitworm, here is a description:

"The larvae come in a wide variety of colors, including shades of pink, yellow, green, brown, and black. The color depends to some extent on the host plant. They usually have darker or lighter stripes running lengthwise on the body. They can be positively identified by the presence of short, sharp microspines between the hairs on the body, but magnification of 7 to 10x is necessary to see these spines." Tomato Fruitworm pictures and description

Pinworms are also segmented, as you can see from the prior pictures posted, but these look larger than pinworms, even at their later larval stages. I cannot tell myself which one it is, though I lean toward the tomato fruitworm, purely from the pictures.

If it's a fruitworm, I was able to find this information about their control. Control for the pinworms seems to require heavier-duty pesticides, aside from hand-picking and destroying them:

Control

Monitor the pest by selecting a leaf from 30 random tomato plants. Choose leaves located below the highest open flower. Healthy eggs are white with a reddish ring. If more than five healthy eggs appear, begin treatments. Pesticide treatments are also required when large numbers of small caterpillars are found feeding on leaves.

This pest has developed resistance to many insecticides. Select an effective chemical. The following insecticides are often used for control: esfenvalerate (Asana), methomyl (Lannate), Bacillus thuringiensis, azinphosmethyl (Guthion), carbaryl (Sevin), and Pyrethrin/Rotenone.

Parasitic wasps, especially Trichograma spp., are important natural enemies. Fruitworm eggs turn black when parasitized.

Avoid planting tomato near corn or cotton to prevent heavy pest infestations.

Tomato Fruitworm info.

Anyway, good luck, and maybe somebody will come up with another ID that's entirely different.

My plants haven't ever had any caterpillars but hornworms, so a definite ID will need to be made by those familiar with your pest.

I registered free at photobucket.com and upload my pictures from my computer to this site. After they're uploaded, all you have to do is find the picture and click your cursor on the third picture format under it, the HTML tag. That copies it to your clipboard, and you can then paste it anywhere you want in a post here. Put returns before and after pictures if you want white spaces there.

Thankyou anney!

That was GREAT information about the Tomato Fruitworm. Thank you for posting it, Anney.

I can say they look exactly like the photos. I didn't see any damage to my leaves, but they really did a lot of damage to my tomatoes- both pre-ripe and ripe. They loved my Husky Red Cherry and Lemon Boy the best.

I treated with thuricide (BT). Looks like I did the right thing. We'll see if it worked.

Thanks again, Anney.

Erin

Not tomato fruitworms. They don't eat in groups.

Can you take a sample to your county's Extension Service office or to a nearby large independent garden center?

Beyond that, how many leaves are affected?

If a reasonable number, you could do a search and destroy. Flick them into slightly soapy water. Or remove individual leaves and stomp!

Hi jean001,
I agree not fruitworms. I seemes to have only affected maybe a dozen leaves, and the tomato plant is very large, so I'm not terribly worried yet. I sprayed the Bt yesterday and as of this morning they to still seem to be eating. I think I'll pull the leaves, and if I get a chance, bring a sample to the extension office for ID.
Tim