Maximum Yield Australia/New Zealand March/April 2020 | Page 60

Hornworms
in the garden
Dealing with
With an ultimate camouflage making them hard to
spot, tomato hornworms are elusive and can wreak
havoc on your plants. Alan Ray explains how to
effectively identify and deal with these ravenous pests.
by Alan Ray
58
Maximum Yield
I
f you’ve gardened before, especially if you’ve ever grown tomatoes,
you are likely familiar with that green grinch of the garden, the
tomato hornworm. The hornworm (manduca quinquemaculata), is
actually the larval stage of a family of hawk moths that includes the
Sphinx and Hummingbird moth, of the family sphingidae.