What Worms Eat Tomatoes?
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable for the home garden in America, according to the University of Illinois. They are generally easy to grow and provide an abundant harvest of tasty red fruit until the first frost in most parts of the country. They do have some pests, though, and if these get established, they can severely limit the amount of edible fruit that can be picked from the plants. Some of the worst pests are various kinds of worms -- often actually caterpillars -- that attack the fruit, the leaves or both. Does this Spark an idea?
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Beet Army Worm
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Beet army worms are the larvae of the beet army worm moth. This moth randomly lays eggs on tomato plants. These are often found on the leaves' undersides. The eggs hatch into worms that range from black to green. The usual diet of the beet army worm is the leaves of the tomato plant, but these pests will eat the fruit as well. They dig out the skin and a small amount of the flesh beneath, creating an opening for bacteria to infect the tomato and destroy it.
Tomato Pinworm
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The tomato pinworm causes damage to tomatoes and other members of the nightshade family, such as eggplant. The worms -- larvae of the tiny pinworm moth -- feed on the plants' stems and leaves. This creates small holes and eventually destroys that part of the plant. As the larvae mature, they burrow into the fruit, leaving tiny holes in the surface near the stems, and destroying the fruit within.
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Cabbage Looper
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The cabbage looper, as its name implies, is mainly attracted to cabbage, but it can cause a great deal of damage to tomato plants as well. When they feed, loopers eat big holes through the leaves of tomato plants, allowing sunlight to penetrate through to the young fruit beneath. The tomatoes are then susceptible to sun-scald, which ultimately causes fruit deformity and, in many cases, the destruction of the tomatoes.
Tomato Fruit Worm
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The inch-long fruit worm moth is the adult form of this small pest. The moth lays eggs on the leaves of the tomato plant, near small fruits or flowers. When the larvae emerge, they are covered with black bumps, making them easy to identify. As soon as they emerge, fruit worms bore down into tomatoes, completely destroying the fruit. It requires persistent use of insecticide to adequately control these destructive pests.
Tomato Hornworm
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The tomato hornworm can grow over 4 inches long, is bright green and has a single horn sticking up at the rear of its body. Due to the fact that their coloring is similar to that of tomato plant foliage, these bugs are hard to spot, allowing them to multiply rapidly before being eradicated. They eat both leaves and fruit, and a few of them can quickly strip a plant. The best way to deal with hornworms is to pick them off of the plants daily and drop them into a pail of soapy water.
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References
- University of Illinois Extension: Watch Your Garden Grow: Tomato
- Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Tomato Insect Mgmt. Guide for Alabama; Edward Sikora; 11/2000
- National Gardening Association; Troubleshooting Tomatoes; Nellie Neal; June 10, 2004
- University of Florida IFAS Extension; Tomato Production in Florida; S.M. Olson, W.M. Stall; 2010-2011
- University of Florida IFAS Extension; Tomato Pinworm; S. L. Poe; March 2011
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
