The other night I went to retire for the night. My dog, Maggy, was outside where she can chase evening bugs on the cool grass. (She LOVES to chase bugs and birds.) I proceed to open the sliding door to let her in and I heard something hitting the top of our patio cover, over and over. Dummy me turns on the porch light, which is about 15 inches from my head, to see what the commotion was. This hug flying creature comes barreling toward the light and me! I quickly turned off the light, closed the door and tried to watch it using the light from inside. I couldn't figure out if it was a really small bat or a big moth! It was the size of a humming bird. You see, here in California I am not accustom to large bugs. And this one freaked me out! Finally I came to the conclusion it was a big moth. Then I thought, we have tomato worms and I know they get big, about 4 inches. This has to be a moth from one of those worms. YUCK! Normally my husband picks off the tomato worms and kills them but our gargantuan tomato plant hides these creatures too well.
Reading a little more about these pests I realized they are not worms (I knew that from Biology class long ago) but caterpillars for the Five Spotted Hawk Moth. "Hawk Moth". Does that say something about this creature? Here is a great, organic reference to maintain the Tomato Hornworm.
Well, I went to bed and knew I would not see this "Hawk Moth" again, hopefully. But when I go out to pick my tomatoes I wonder if more on on their way...
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