That's one of the many leaf-roller caterpillars. Messy, aren't they? And yes, the dark pellets are frass (insect poop). The adults will be a rather plain moth...and that's when the egg laying comes in. Those teeny babies nicely pictured in that one image hatched from eggs laid on that leaf. If you learn to look for the small eggs and remove them, you'll not have the caterpillars. Bt can be used to control this caterpillar pest, though it is not particularly effective when they are at the large stage. It's most helpful on the little guys. Bt is relatively safe to use (some people have allergic reaction), and is easily washed off. These (and other) caterpillars have a very wide array of natural predators and parasites to help you keep them under control. Rather than cutting away branches and tons of leaves, just remove the caterpillars. They don't sting or bite. And do an egg search. Attached is a fact sheet about the specific leaf-roller I believe yours to be. Florida is one of the many states in which it is found. The squiggly lines pictured in a couple of your images are from leaf miners, very commonly found in tomatoes. Simply remove affected leaves....or just ignore them. They rarely do enough damage to cause problems for the crop. Here is a link that might be useful: Click here

Hi All; I think after some resurch I found a description that fits the short distance from anterior to clitellum and the name is Sparganophilus eiseni(source "Earthworm of New York State"). A link below to a taxinomic chart on page two its a Adobe reader. Here is a link that might be useful: OSU.EDU worm chart on p2

If your larva has just 6 legs (3 pairs) near the head, they are beetle larvae. If there are also legs along the abdomen, they may be fly larvae. Those in the image have similarities to mealworms (beetle grubs). One could expect to see either adult flies or beetles near the plants.

I also found an online store that sells African Nightcrawler. Which would be better for confined vertical compost bin? ANC or lumbricus rubellus (redworm). i heard that anc is good for temperate country.