# Wierd worm on tomato plant **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954 "2002-09-04T14:20:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954/1 "2002-09-04T14:20:17Z")
What is this funky looking worm-creature on my tomato plant? It appeared all of a sudden this week. It’s thick and green (like the color of the plant), and has spiny white things on its back. I can’t imagine how it got on the plant as it’s in a pot on my deck, 12 feet off the ground! I won’t even pick my tomatoes now because this thing is wigging me out so much. Gross! Any idea what this could be and is it hurting my plant? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954/2 "2002-09-04T14:29:52Z")
How long have you been growing tomatoes? Tomato plants and [Tomato Hornworms](http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/youth/bug/bug091.html) are best buds. > [@](#): > > Tomato Hornworm > > Scientific name: Manduca quinquemaculata (Haworth) > (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) > > Facts: Tomato hornworms are large (some as long as 4 inches), green caterpillars with diagonal white bars on the sides and a slender horn at the tip of the body. Adults have long, sucking tubes for mouthparts, while larvae have chewing mouthparts. Larvae and adults often are confused with the tobacco hornworm it closely resembles. The tobacco hornworm feeds on the same plants and sometimes is more common than the tomato hornworm. [More info](http://ctr.uvm.edu/ctr/el/el73.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954/3 "2002-09-04T14:29:53Z")
Probably a [tomato hornworm](http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/youth/bug/bug091.html). You can knock them off - they can’t fly yet. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954/4 "2002-09-04T14:32:45Z")
Fixed link for [More info](http://ctr.uvm.edu/ctr/el/el73.htm) ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954/5 "2002-09-04T14:33:42Z")
I hate those things. Are garden was over run with them when I was a kid. They were so f-ing ugly that my DAD was afraid of them. GROSS! KICK IT TO DEATH…it’s the only option. J ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wierd-worm-on-tomato-plant/126954/6 "2002-09-04T15:23:06Z")
Sometimes they are so camoflauged that you can only notice that they are in your tomato plants when you see their droppings on the ground. I used to pick them off and drop them into a paper bag. The noise they made in that paper bag was … disturbing.