this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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Can you help me id this larvae (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Francisco@mander.xyz to c/bugs@lemmy.world
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Found it on my tomato plant. I'd seen them before in sizes up to 4-5 cm. They eat the tomato leaves like crazy. And (naturally) poo a lot. Some black granade like aggregates. Once grown they molt into a moth that I saw a few days ago. And now my tomato plants are again riddled with these buggers.

This photo was done with the help of a stereoscope. The grid squares are 4mm inside, and 5mm outside the lines. So this juvenile has about 1cm.

I'd love to ID them. Any advise on how to control them without pesticides is also welcome.

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[–] envis10n@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm sorry but I really thought it was a gummy worm

[–] Francisco@mander.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

If I let them grow, I'm sure I can send you a good bag. XD

[–] witten@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manduca_quinquemaculata (tomato hornworm)

[–] Francisco@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Google searches point to that one alone. And the photos do not suggest a lot of shape variability.

But I'm not convinced because the ones I have (1) do not grow a 'horn', (2) the Nr of legs don't seem to match: also they don't grow as chubby and no line markings.

Strongly on favour of your suggestion.. the larvae my tomato plant has, they do glow under UV light.

[–] MightBeAlpharius@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's a long shot, but could it be a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar? They've got a line of faint dots down their sides and have no horn, but they're about the same size and color as a hornworm.

[–] Francisco@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

Would be lovely, but the butterfly/moth is quite a bit less colourful.

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Looks like a hawkmoth of some sort. I get tobacco hornworms occasionally on my tomatoes. They eat so much so fast, that I often only notice one is there after a whole branch has been consumed. Luckily, it seems like I have a thriving population of parasitic wasps cause for the past several years, I've found them covered with parasitic wasp cocoons. If you find one like that, don't remove it from your plant. By the time there are parasitic wasp cocoons on it, it doesn't eat any more, and you could easily have 50 wasps come from one worm.

[–] Francisco@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I believe now this is a Tomato Looper, aka Golden Twin-spot moth

Chrysodeixis chalcites.

From a 12yo reddit post with a very very similar larvae on tomato plants, somebody said it was a cabbage looper (wiki).

But after chancing a search for "tomato looper" I finally found a different species with a very very similar larvae and from there a name and good photo for the moth, Golden Twin-spot.

Now to find how to save the plants!..

[–] HonkTonkWoman@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thank you tracking this down & following up! I was convinced it was a Regal Moth.

Hope your tomato plants survived!

[–] Francisco@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thanks! Seems like handpicking the larvae on the first generation was not thorough enough. Now it's a horde. Today it's looking bleak for one of the 4 plants ':)

The consumption of leaves is astonishing.

On the positive, this has been a good science project for my 5 yo. Catching larvae and pupae, and watching the birthing moth.

We're not eating tomatoes (from these house plants anyway) but we're having some fun.

That Regal moth is awesome! The caterpillar too. And I think i'd surrender the tomatoe plants to them the first time I saw them around.

[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

gummy worm