While inspecting the tomato vines, I found this hungry little visitor. This Tomato Hornworm is actually the larva of a huge moth called five-spotted hawk moth, which full grown is about the size of a hummingbird. Yikes~!
Although this little one has a ferocious appetite and means a bare plant in no time, I couldn't bring myself to kill it and proceeded to deal with it as my new model for a up close and personal photo shoot. Tomato Hornworms feed on leaves and stems of the tomato plants and if you don't find a new home for them can raise your crop to the ground. To deter Horn Worms you can plant marigolds as a deterrent around or between your tomatoes. Marigolds are avoided by a lot of different bugs!
(c) Enzie Shahmiri
