cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17588319
[Image description: a thicc green hornworm hanging onto the stem of a tomato plant. The hornworm is speckled with little white dots, has eyespots and angular white stripes down his side, and the namesake sharp little spike of a horn on its butt.]
When I was a kid once of my chores was to check for these little fuckers on my mom's organic tomatoes, since she never used pesticides.
She did buy Mantis egg cases every year but they weren't enough to stop them all. On the plus side, that area developed a population of mantises at least partially because of them.