However, large numbers of larvae can occasionally occur in home gardens, leading to significant damage. These insects do not typically cause significant damage in commercial vegetable fields. sexta) are large, blue-green caterpillars (larvae) with a spine (horn) on the posterior (rear) end. Send us feedback about these examples.Tomato hornworms ( Manduca quinquemaculata) and tobacco hornworms ( M. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hornworm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Joan Morris, The Mercury News, 15 July 2019 See More Joan Morris, The Mercury News, 15 July 2019 Some people argue that the caterpillars should be left to do their thing because the reward is seeing the moth, but gardeners often don’t see it that way and go out on hornworm hunts.

2020 The hornworm is a voracious eater of plants - mainly tomatoes and peppers. oregonlive, 5 July 2020 Our research team at Michigan State University’s Plant Resilience Institute watched what happened in hotter weather when hornworm caterpillars attacked a tomato plant. Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 June 2022 That is a hornworm caterpillar from the genus Smerinthus. Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 June 2022 The caterpillars feed continuously, so any time of day will work for going on a hornworm hunt. 2010 Fewer weeds means fewer places for hornworm moths to lay eggs. 2010 Allmann and Baldwin showed that something in the hornworm spit was causing this change. Recent Examples on the Web The bug eats hornworm caterpillars.

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