Oh, no! Not this! Tomato Hornworm damage

Lori Fiechter here to complain about "Manduca Quinquemaculata" --- rather mellifluous name for a very ugly hawkmoth with a very destructive caterpillar! We have not had a tomato hornworm infestation for years...I guess it's not an infestation yet since we killed 4 caterpillars before they completely defoliated our tomato plants! It's been so long ago, that the Bt I used to spray is probably five years old...and Amazon is out of stock. So we got rid of them the old way: pinch off the stem with worm and kill. You can kill them the same way as Japanese beetles by dropping them in soapy water but I was in a hurry to dispatch them. If I hadn't been in such a hurry to squish them with a chunky piece of limestone rock, I'd have shown you what they looked like, munching away. But I was in a hurry!

Now we are extra vigilant, doing caterpillar patrol at least twice a day...