I had NO idea!

[Phoebesmum]

I have NEVER seen in person a tomato hornworm..I always knew they were large but last night I came across my first hornworm and OHHHHH MMMMMYYYY GGGGOOOOSSSSHHHH!!!!! IT WAS HUGE! I have always prided myself on being able to garden despite my intense fear of bugs but I just could NOT handle this--thank GOD my gardening buddy was also there and she took care of picking that one plus two others we found off...this was scarier to me than the snake that resided in my garden!!

[Vickie44]

They are ugly aren't they

[Kazahleenah]

Originally Posted by Vickie44

They are ugly aren't they

Yes, they are.

[mistletoad]

And they make clicking noises at you when you grab them! <shudder>

[frankva]

Pliers will fix them.

[Gladrags]

I wonder if you can fry 'em up, like cicadas?

[Terri]

They are so big not even mychickens will eat them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BlackWillowFarm]

Grotesquely beautiful. Garden nippers work too. I had a dog who would eat them. I encouraged her, but it made me sick to my stomach to think about it.

(where's the vomit smiley?)

[pamda]

They make the coolest moth if you put then in a jar and feed them. Makes a great natural science project. I am intensly afraid off them as worms but will keep one in a jar for kids to watch.

[Phoebesmum]

Originally Posted by mistletoad

And they make clicking noises at you when you grab them! <shudder>

I am SO glad that you said that! I thought I was losing my mind and just imagining that they were clicking!! They also take HUGE dumps considering their size! LOL

[Phoebesmum]

Originally Posted by pamda

They make the coolest moth if you put then in a jar and feed them. Makes a great natural science project. I am intensly afraid off them as worms but will keep one in a jar for kids to watch.

If the caterpillars are THAT big...I would HATE to see how big the moth is! NO WAY!

[Belfrybat]

Originally Posted by Phoebesmum

If the caterpillars are THAT big...I would HATE to see how big the moth is! NO WAY!

About the size of a hummingbird, which is why they are sometimes called hummingbird moths. They are quite lovely.

[oldasrocks]

They taste just like chicken.

[Kstornado11]

The moths they turn into are unsettling to me, had several who liked to divebomb & buzz me as I was working in my garden a few weeks ago. I remember seeing them all over the Four-'O-Clocks as a little girl.

[JuliaAnn]

Yeah, just pull it off the plant by that pointy spine on it's rear end, pop it in your mouth and chew it up. They're kind of rubbery at first, until your teeth bite through the skin and the guts squirt out in your mouth. Kind of like the liquid center of one of those expensive chocolates. Be sure to chew it up well, so you savor every juicy bit. Yum! And they're so good for you! You got your vegetable with the tomatoes, and you got your meat with the hornworm! How green and organic!

[Jokarva]

Originally Posted by JuliaAnn

Yeah, just pull it off the plant by that pointy spine on it's rear end, pop it in your mouth and chew it up. They're kind of rubbery at first, until your teeth bite through the skin and the guts squirt out in your mouth. Kind of like the liquid center of one of those expensive chocolates. Be sure to chew it up well, so you savor every juicy bit. Yum! And they're so good for you! You got your vegetable with the tomatoes, and you got your meat with the hornworm! How green and organic!

[olivehill]

They are enormous, disgusting things, aren't they?

I personally will not touch them, not on purpose. I use BBQ tongs to grab them off the plants and put them in a bucket and then I let the kids take care of them from there. They like to put them in the drive and run over them with their bikes because the worms are so big and squishy. :lol: