Posted by Marcy L. Hagarman on October 7, 2005

Q: Found a lime green caterpiller eating my tomatoe plant. it had six legs close together near its head, then the remaining legs back along the "body". It has an orange/red hook at its rump. Each segment (the back legs are on)has a white and black stripe. The stripe travels from the bottom front of the segment then diagnal up to its back.

Where the stripe starts, there is also a circular white marking, resembling an eye with a black center. These "eye" markings are the size of a large pin head. The overall size of the beauty is about 1.5 to 2 inches. It is fat like a finger.

Habitat: suburban/yard

State: Pennsylvania

Habitat: suburban/yard

A: Your description is PHENOMENAL! Are you a biologist or just a very observant person? Very, very helpful. You've got a tomato hornworm! This is the caterpillar of one of the Sphinx Moths. There are about 100 different species of these moths in North America so I'm not sure exactly which one it is but I do have a picture of one for you to compare at www.oznet.ksu.edu

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Although many people think the horn at the end of the caterpillar is poisonous, this is not true - they are totally harmless. Once this animal is finished growing, it will leave your tomato plant and burrow into the soil. Since this is late in the year, it will remain in the soil and emerge as an adult Sphinx Moth in the spring and begin the cycle anew. There are usually two cycles each season (spring adults produce young that produce late summer young such as yours). If you don't mind losing some of your tomato leaves, it should be fun to watch your visitor grow. The adults are rather large moths that have a long tongue making it possible for them to access nectar from tubular flowers and pollinate them at the same time. Thanks so much for your question.

John Wiessinger ( October 8, 2005)