I wouldn't call them microscopic, or 'barely visible' to MY eyes, but YOUR eyes might be different. Have you seen the little, seed-pearl-like eggs? They'll be found on the upper and/or lower surface of the leaf and the caterpillar has to hatch out of that little thing. So, they are small...very small, but not nearly microscopic.

I'm going to post the best images I've ever seen of hatchling hornworms....from someone right here in the GardenWeb. One thing you cannot miss is that they are born with that horn....straight out of the egg.

I'm attaching the whole thread from the Butterfly forum so that you can appreciate the photographer and his/her pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazing sequence of images

NapsWithBear, though we call the mites on tomatoes "Spider Mites," they're most likely "Tomato Russet Mites."

Take a look at this page: the next-to-last photo.
http://www.hydro-gardens.com/spidermite.htm
(You can click on it and enlarge it a bit.) Is that what you're seeing with your magnifying glass?

Another photo; it too can be enlarged:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r783400111.html

rhizo_1, Wow. Those pictures are Amazing! Thanks for the thread... But I definitley do not have baby hornworms.

missingtheobvious, It looks like I have something in between the russet mite and the Feltiella acarisuga. Problem is mine don't look like a wedge like the russet mite. They also do not have a dark spot like the mite predator, Feltiella acarisuga.

I'm stumped! I doubt I have any natural predators. Definitley not baby hornworms. Possibly russet mites, but they look more wormy less wedgey.

I put a few infested leaves in a jar with cheesecloth on top. I discovered some dark mites and I'm going to see what happens to those tiny worms..... I will keep you guys updated!

You say there are holes on the leaves. What sort of holes? Actual holes (empty spots = air) or perhaps white spots (as if the "worms" have eaten the green)?

If the latter, you could be seeing leaf miners doing their evil work of eating the inside of the leaves. Here's what the leaves look like:
http://freshfromflorida.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/the-hopeful-gardener-has-leaf-miners/

The adult insect lays eggs inside the leaf, and the leaf miner lives between the layers of the leaf until it pupates (or some scientist removes it from the leaf to take its photograph). Here's a photo of a leaf miner. The leaf behind it shows the whitish mines with trails of dark droppings.
http://plantdiagnostics.umd.edu/level3.cfm?causeID=266

A bit about the life-cycle, with pictures. Note that the adult makes small holes in the top side of the leaves when laying the eggs:
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/agriculture/production/3362/pest_management.htm

One thing I know about hornworms is their eggs look like rice, just the same size, shape and color.

So I took a picture of the unidentifiable worm but cannot figure out how to upload them on this forum or the tomato pest forum.

I'm limited to my smartphone, I wonder if that's why I don't have an upload pic option?

Anyway....
Egad.... I think I have leaf miners on my squash plant though.....

How to upload photos to this forum from Photobucket:
Uploading from Photobucket
[Be sure you get the html code for the photo. Many people try to use "[IMG]" on either side of the photo url; that will not work.]

On the Tomato Pest forum, you can post images directly from your computer without going through an image-hosting site like Photobucket. (I've no idea if you can post from a smartphone.) Click on the small red and black Image Uploading rectangle for instructions; it's on the left about halfway down the screen.

Here are the general site instructions on posting pictures:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/help.html#images

Keep in mind that whatever you see when you go to "Preview Message" is what will appear in your post. So if you want the photo to appear in the post, it must appear in "Preview Message." If it doesn't appear, you've done something wrong and must try again.

If you're putting a link in your post, be sure to click on it in "Preview Message" to make sure it works. If it doesn't work there, it won't work in your post either.

jannie... hornworm eggs look like tiny little perfect pearls to the naked eye and nothing like grains of rice. I'm wondering what you might be thinking of.

If you look at the second post in this thread, you'll see a clickable attachment. Click on it and you will see a series of pictures taken of a tobacco hornworm's egg, hatching, and earliest days on this earth as a caterpillar.

In the first picture, you can see the little egg on the tomato leaf.

If you can find pictures of what you're talking about, we'll be able to ID it for you.

Ah, you guys rock. Thanks for the Photobucket tip. I attached a picture of it, the little worm is a little yellowy and a bit under the dark spots on the leaves...... Please let me know.what you think.....

http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z445/napswithbear/IMAG0301.jpg

Also, if you check out the album, there's additional pics of the damage...

Clickable link:
{{gwi:1384008}}

Sorry, Naps: it only links to the one photo.

Are you talking about a tiny yellow worm, maybe 1/8" long, immediately to the left of and parallel to the second-largest leaf vein -- just to the left of the center of the photo?

Obvious, YES!! That little worm, just left of center!! There's like two on every leaf... And the ones I put in a jar I cannot find.

Do you know what they are???

Here is a link that might be useful: tomato leaf problem

No idea. Could be anything. Even if you enlarged them, I wouldn't be able to tell. Maybe someone else might, though.

Your link shows me 5 photos, but they're much smaller than the one I was able to access and link to in my last post.

The worms you put in the jar might have died and dried up (so small you didn't notice them). Or they might be hiding under the jar lid.

Hi guys I'm back.

The worms have gotten bigger let me know what you think.
I added also a picture of a tiny bug on my arm, it looks like a small tan and brown lady bug, but I'm not sure.

There's also a picture of s blurry brown bug on my jalepeno leaf. He moves fast and cam jump from leaf to leaf. His eyes were reddish orange
, set far apart. Almost looked like a toad.

If you guys know that would be great. Sorry for the quality of the pics. They move so fast. It's the best my phone could do.

Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: identify new bugs!

Naps, if you live in Florida, Texas, or California, there's an endemic pest called the tomato pinworm, which starts off less than a millimeter long. But apparently if you live elsewhere and bought seedlings, it might have come with your plants. You can read about it here:
http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG295/html/tomato_pinworm.htm

This site describes the infant caterpiller as cream-colored with a black or brown head. Do your little guys have dark heads?
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/04-025.htm

Good news: if you don't live in California, Texas, or Florida, they'll die when the winter comes. Apparently if you start your plants from seed, you shouldn't have a problem next year.

Your best bet to identify the little guys may be to raise some and compare them with online photos when they get to a larger size, pupate, or turn into moths/butterflies. There just aren't many photos of tomato-eating caterpillars when they're so small -- and some of the caterpillars change quite a bit from instar to instar (caterpillar life stages).

Missingtheobvious... You're so rad! Thanks :)