Mrs. Spider dines with Mr. Tomato Horn Worm

13 years ago

In the organic garden observation is as important a task as any. Failure to recognize signs of mischief by the uninvited can be discouraging both to the garden and gardeners mental stability. One challenge is the hunt for Mr. Tomato Horn Worm. He is a master of camouflage but evidence of his visit is unmistakable, tomato plants stripped of their leaves in only one night and tiny black pellets lying on the leaves and the ground below his obliteration. As many times before I knew I had to take action. Unbeknownst me this would be a fray unlike any before. There have been occasions when friendlies had already taken action and I could carry on as usual. On this patrol one recent afternoon armed only with bare hands and sporting my finest garden combat boots I began the hunt. I have a treaty with all factions I regulate so chemical warfare is out of the question. I found the enemy and was ready to move in when I detected something different about Mr. Tomato Horn Worm. He was discolored in a couple of places and was dining with someone whom I did not recognize, discernably paralyzed by his diner guest I might add. I quickly ran back to headquarters to arm myself with a fully automatic digital weapon, I needed to document this chance encounter for evidence should I ever need it. I have confronted Mrs. Black Widow many times but this was Mrs. Black Spider w/Red Dot on her back. I know it a mysterious name but until I acquire her real name I'll refer to her as this for now. She was a bit skittish and difficult to image due to her location but unlike Mrs. Widow whom is on my side too I thought I might have better relations with this new lady. Now I have seen gatherings of the Parasitic Wasp family dine with Mr. Worm before but witnessing Mrs. Spider intimately dinning with Mr. Worm was a bit amazing. If you know the name of this lady I would greatly appreciate you help I would like to welcome her to my neighborhood.

PS - If you have images of special friends you meet in your garden please share them.

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Comments (13)

plantmaven
13 years ago
COOL !!!!!
Lynn Marie
13 years ago
DANG! That's an awfully big meal for such a little arachnid! I'm "Team Spider"!
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i am so glad i found this forum! my family has also taken on a "pet" horn worm and basically rescued it from being squashed from grandpa. my 4 year old loves it and we've been feeding it tomatoes and leaves daily. this morning we woke up and basically thought it was dying- it was not looking good and we thought maybe the cat got to it (still a possibility?) anyway, thanks to wikipedia i was happy to learn about the pre-pupua stage and i think that's where it is. he is currently in a plastic food storage container and i learned that they molt in dirt. just added some dirt. any suggestions? i'm a little confused about the fridge thing? we live in san diego and i was hoping just to release the moth whenever it's ready (when will it be ready?) do i need to continue to feed it? it's not eating right now. thanks in advanced for any help. this is my first worm/caterpillar and a little clueless but thrilled to know i'm not the only one caring for something that most people view as "pests."
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If you pick them off, do you use your bare hand? I read that they sometimes bite! I use any little stick I can find and shove it under the hornworm to get it off. Those suckers hang onto the stems for dear life, that's for sure. I hate to kill them because they're really beautiful. I just wish they liked something else as well as they like tomato foliage. Many species of hornworms may try to bite, but their mandibles are small and not very powerful so they can't do any real harm. Tobacco hornworms (the most common kind on tomatoes) don't seem to be big "biters". And to answer the questions about why I like to rear insects that eat my tomatoes, anney already answered the question for me. I don't just rear hornworms, but other b'flies and moths as well. It's another interest I have but it's not as serious as TMD. But serious enough to cause me to not kill cats I find eating my tomatoes...I just pick them off as soon as I see damage and find them.
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Could this have been meant for a diff thread? "Sorry, but it sounds like Late Blight (and other fungus) heaven in there. Hornworms too...." No, gumby_ct, I posted on the right thread. It's a 4' wide row of tomato plants crowded in a tight (and unprunable, so constantly becoming tighter) mess, crawling all over each other (except when occasionally separated by some wooden stakes or whatever), weighed down by the fruit.... In other words: solid tomato plants, no possibility of air circulation except on the two sides. After rain or in humid weather, it wouldn't dry out in the middle for days ... maybe weeks. Low visibility, too. If there were hornworms or other pests, you wouldn't be able to see them. Entire cubic feet of vines in the middle of the row could have been reduced to nothing but stems, and you'd never have a chance of seeing it. But I suspect the fungal diseases would finish off the plants first. And they'd get a really good hold on the plants, there in the middle of the mess, before anyone noticed a problem. Perhaps the original bloggers live in an arid climate. Perhaps zeuspaul lives in a dry part of zone 9. Perhaps fungal tomato diseases are different there.
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Tobacco Horn Worm I havenÂt had a Tomato Hornworm on my tomatoes so far. My first tobacco hornworm this year was found June 12, 2008. It was the smallest hornworm I had ever seen. I get two stick and use them as chop sticks to take the hornworms off of my tomatoes. I had a lot of hornworms, but the wasps, and birds seem to have gotten the ones that I couldnÂt find. Hornworms are nothing compared to the cabbage loppers. See the photo of the Tobacco Hornworm that I had last year. Atlanta, Georgia Karyl ==== Here is a link that might be useful: My Flicker Photo of Tobacco Hornworm
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carrie751
13 years ago
I have seen this spider before, but do not know her name, and I agree, I hope she is REALLY hungry..LOL>
I removed 18 of these cats from my tomatoes this spring, and relocated them on just ordinary weed foliage......guess what, I think they all made it into butterflies as I had an abundance of swallowtails later. Is this not the cat that becomes a swallowtail????
debndal
13 years ago
Carrie - I think this cat becomes a tersa moth. Some are very attractive.
carrie751
13 years ago
Thanks, debndal, I finally did some research and found they become hawkmoths. I learned some interesting things about the tomato hornworm.
texanjana
13 years ago
That is awesome!
justintx
13 years ago
I've seen these before and found a link below that may be useful. Watch out!!

Here is a link that might be useful: widow spiders
dwf1
Original Author
13 years ago
justintx,
Thanks, but that isn't a black widow. I come across them from time to time, call me crazy but I have an agreement with them; they don't bother me and I don't bother them. I even come across a rattler every once in a while, I leave them alone too. Look closely at the legs and eyes. Also unlike the Redback spider native to Australia the Black Widow's red hourglass marking is on the underside. I did find an image of a Redback dining with a Tomato Horn Worm (http://www.spiderzrule.com/rb6.jpg). I have not found its ID yet but I have been looking. I may have to seek the knowledge of an expert Entomologist at UT or A&M.
dwf1
Original Author
13 years ago
"This is a jumping spider I believe it belongs to the Genus Phiddipus."
Volunteer Expert Walter Hintz at AllExperts.com
Univ of California Entomology Kent State Univ

A great site to ask questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: AllExperts
carrie751
13 years ago
Thanks, dwfl, now if I can just remember that name .......may have to refer to this thread.
jimr36
12 years ago
Very cool!

I've run into the hornworms on my tomato plants as well. I tried to get fire ants to develop an appetite for the worms/caterpillars by dropping them into the ant piles, but no luck so far.

Someone somewhere mentioned that the hornworms make great fishing bait. Maybe we need a Top Ten lists of ways to creatively end hornworm lives.
ishoot
12 years ago
Never saw that as a pair in the garden! Here's a few I've seen around my place. I also have shot a bunch at the Dallas Arboretum. If anyone knows the names of these, lemme know...

Here is a link that might be useful: Critter Week at TWFE
jimr36
12 years ago
Don't mean to nickpick - especially with that GREAT picture - but that can't be a tomato hornworm (the lines are wrong). The tomato hornworm has more 'V'-like lines, as seen from the side.

http://coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/images/hrnwrm10.jpg

That's more likely a tobacco hornworm. They love tomatoes too. I know it causes lots of confusion...

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato/tobacco hormwom comparison

Mrs. Spider dines with Mr. Tomato Horn Worm

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plantmaven

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Mrs. Spider dines with Mr. Tomato Horn Worm

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