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.

if you put them out last week i'd say write them off but if you've had them set out for a while, its quite possible that they'll come roaring back. wait a week and see if they make any new growth. They are perennials so you can pretty much prune all their leaves off and if the plant is mature enough, it'll shrug it off. sure it sets your schedule back, but some peppers is better than none, no? :)

No horn worms or moths but I've had a slight problem with red looking aphids on my tomatoe plants, beaf steak. When I first found them I sprayed, which I hate to do. Then last night found a few more, not really an infestation, so I just went throught the fourteen plants and checked all leaves and wipped off what I found. I'm not sure what they are, I though spider mites, but the pics. I've found don't look like them. Oh well, I'll just keep wipping them off unless they get real bad, then I'll break out the spray killer.....

After the scary-but-harmless caterpillar photos, I'm going to link to a cute one: the puss moth caterpillar. I saw one a couple of years ago on a daylily leaf just a few feet from my house. There's a lilac nearby; they like to feed on shrubs. Luckily I had my pockets and both hands full of seed pods from various daylilies (and was trying not to forget which seeds were from which daylilies), or I might have tried to pet it. And there was a small voice inside my head that told me that was a bad idea. Scroll down to see it in all its fuzzy white glory: http://www.hort.net/lists/spaceagerobin/aug04/msg00047.html The white coloring is less common; they also come in grey, taupe, brown, yellow, and pale orange. This type always makes me think of 1950s rock singers (male) with curly pompadour hairdos: http://insects.about.com/od/butterfliesmoths/ig/Stinging-Caterpillars/Puss-Caterpillar.htm Well, it could be worse: there are copperheads around here; at least I haven't found any of them in my backyard! Photos of other dangerous caterpillars (unfortunately not always describing where they are found): http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/nature/news-ten-creepy-and-colorful-caterpillar-hazardous-human-health