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Tomato Hornworms: How to Identify, Control, and Prevent Them

Photo Credit
Amanda Hill

Spot Them Early and Save Your Tomatoes: Expert Tips for Gardeners

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener
Pest Type
Garden Pests
Plants Affected
How to Grow Eggplant (Aubergines): Planting, Growing & Harvesting Tips
How to Grow Bell Peppers: Plant, Grow & Harvest Sweet Peppers
How to Grow Tomatoes: Complete Guide to Planting & Harvesting
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Potatoes

Big, green, and hungry—tomato hornworms can wipe out your tomato crop almost overnight. These giant caterpillars love to feast on tomato leaves and fruit, and they won’t stop there. Peppers, eggplants, and potatoes are also on their menu.

”This one is nobody’s friend if you’re a gardener and like to grow tomatoes,” says entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology’s Lepidoptera collection.

The good news is that these pests are easy to spot once you know what to look for, and they can be controlled without resorting to harsh chemicals. In this guide, learn how to identify tomato hornworms, understand their life cycle, and discover effective natural ways to get rid of them—plus tips to keep them from coming back next year.

🐛 Hornworms munching your tomatoes? Our Almanac Garden Club members get exclusive pest guides, expert webinars, and practical tips to protect their crops. Protect Your Garden Now.

What Are Tomato Hornworms?

If you’ve ever walked out to your tomato plants and found bare stems where lush foliage used to be, chances are hornworms were at work.

  • The tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) and the closely related tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) are garden pests found throughout most of the U.S. and southern Canada.
  • Both species feed on plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae): tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, tobacco, and potatoes.
  • Because of their size and appetite, a small number of hornworms can defoliate plants quickly.

These pests are the larval stage of large night-flying moths (sphinx or hawk moths).

Tomato Hornworm crawling on a tomato vine.
Tomato troublemaker in action—meet the tomato hornworm! Photo by Amanda Hill.

Read Next

Identification

How to Identify Tomato Hornworms

Look for big, green worms on tomato plants! Hornworms are some of the largest caterpillars in the garden. Key features include:

  • Color: Pale green with V-shaped white markings along the body
  • Horn: Dark, pointed “horn” protruding from the rear
  • Camouflage: Blends almost perfectly with tomato leaves, making them tricky to spot
  • Size: Can reach up to 4–5 inches in length

Tip: Inspect your tomato plants daily. Check the undersides of leaves for eggs and watch for early signs of feeding damage.

Tomato Hornworm vs. Tobacco Hornworm

Both species damage tomato plants, but here’s how to tell them apart:

  • Tomato hornworm: White V-shaped markings; black horn
  • Tobacco hornworm: Diagonal white stripes with black spots; red horn
tobacco hornworm
Can you tell which hornworm this is? 
(It’s a tobacco hornworm! Notice the white stripes with dotted black lines and a red “horn.”) 

Signs of Tomato Hornworm Damage

  • Chewed or missing leaves, often starting at the top of the plant
  • Wilted stems and bare stalks
  • Dark green droppings (frass) on leaves or soil
  • Chewed fruit and sunscald on tomatoes (caused by loss of leaf cover)

Tomato Hornworm Life Cycle

Understanding the life cycle helps you prevent infestations:

  1. Eggs: Laid on undersides of leaves in late spring; hatch within 1 week
  2. Larvae (hornworms): Feed heavily for 3–4 weeks
  3. Pupae: Burrow into soil to overwinter in a cocoon
  4. Adult moths: Five-spotted hawk moths emerge in spring to repeat the cycle

In warmer regions, there may be two generations per year.

Tomato hornworm moth (female)
Tomato hornworm moth (female). Look out for the moths in late spring. Photo by Didier Descouens/Wikimedia Commons.

Gardening Products

Control and Prevention

How to Get Rid of Tomato Hornworms

1. Handpicking

  • The most effective method for small gardens:
  • Check plants daily and remove caterpillars by hand
  • Drop them in soapy water, or feed them to backyard chickens

2. Use Organic Controls

  • Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt): A safe, natural bacterium that kills young caterpillars (must be ingested).
  • Neem oil or insecticidal soap: Can work on small caterpillars, but less effective on large hornworms

3. Encourage Natural Predators

  • Parasitic wasps lay eggs on hornworms (you may see white cocoons attached)
  • Ladybugs, green lacewings, and birds also feed on eggs and larvae

If you find a hornworm covered with white cocoons, leave it—the wasps will do the control work for you

A tobacco hornworm covered with parasitic wasp eggs.
Nature’s drama! A tobacco hornworm becomes a nursery for parasitic wasps.

How to Prevent Hornworm Infestations

  • Till soil in fall or spring to destroy overwintering pupae (up to 90% mortality)
  • Rotate crops—avoid planting tomatoes in the same spot year after year
  • Use companion planting: Interplant dill or basil to deter pests; plant marigolds at borders
  • Attract  beneficial insects  by planting nectar-rich flowers

Frequently Asked Questions

Do tomato hornworms bite?
No. They look intimidating, but they cannot sting or bite humans.

What does a tomato hornworm turn into?
A large five-spotted hawk moth, also called a sphinx or hummingbird moth.

When do tomato hornworms appear?
Eggs are laid in late spring, and larvae are most destructive from June through August.

Can tomato hornworms eat other plants?
Yes. They also feed on peppers, potatoes, eggplants, and tobacco.

More Help for Gardeners: See our Garden Pest and Disease Library for tips on other common problems.

Do you have tomato hornworms? How do you handle them in the garden?

Garden Pests
About The Author
Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Susan</span> Fri, 07/18/2025 - 06:42
Tomato worm arrived last year. When I found the first worm, I crushed it on a rock and left it away from my garden. Within 10 minutes the wasps arrived and devoured this worm I crushed. Then next few days I checked my tomato plants and found a couple more worms, but with the wasp eggs planted on them. The wasp eggs eat the worm until it dies. No more worms! We have not had any worms this year, but if we do I will do the same thing again. I diligently check for worms in the mornings. Good luck with your gardens!
<span>Richard Buss</span> Mon, 10/30/2023 - 01:46
The UV Blacklight at night REALLY WORKS. The hornworms glow bright yellow-green on the dark stems. It may be that the person who tried it and failed did not have the right kind of light. I used a UV fluorescent tube in a desk lamp, on a long extension cord, to make the worms glow before they were picked off to their doom. One day I found 6-7 worms on my tomato plants, after seeing the missing leaves and black droppings. That night, with the blacklight, I found about 40 more. Please try it. It works!
<span>Jason</span> Fri, 07/18/2025 - 00:58
Probably a wavelength issue. Some UV lights are mainly for looking for industrial leaks etc and some are better for biological use like dog pee, caterpillars, hotel room “issues” etc.
<span>Doug</span> Mon, 08/21/2023 - 13:51
I grew tomatoes in Oregon for 25 years and had never heard of these pests or ever seen one. I moved to southern Utah a few years ago and have witnessed the devastation these worms can do to a plant in 1 day. They blend in perfectly with their color. I do hand pick them off because I only have 10 or so plants. I've tried the black light at night but I haven't found that the light actually makes them stand out or glow. The only way I've been able to really find them is to follow their path of destruction. I look for the damage to the plant and the path of their droppings. They are very difficult to see so when you're looking in the right area from the evidence, focus on movement. I have used spray and it did keep them away for a few months but I worry about eating the tomatoes. That defeats the whole purpose of me growing my own food.
<span>Kathy Outside …</span> Sat, 08/12/2023 - 17:08
I pulled up my huge dill plant that was adjacent to my tomato plants. At that point, I had had NO ONE eating my tomato plants. within 2 weeks my tomato plants, vines, and leaves were being ravaged. Today while watering, I found a huge horned tomato worm on a tomato stalk right where the damage has been done. Can't imagine how I saw it because it is so perfectly camouflaged on the stalk of the tomato plant. Now I've got this one and looking for others. Can't bring myself to kill one, but at least I can throw it down into the woods. Here's the irony of this. The net shows that dill plants are good for keeping down horned tomato worms ! I should have left the dill plant, but I jus wasn't using the dill. I'll know next year
<span>Tony Baker</span> Wed, 07/05/2023 - 18:05
This Year I used a stick with 10 foot of copper wire wrapped around a wood stick, with about 10 inches on top and bottom sticking in the ground, top sticking up. I have not had no Mites, or squash bugs at all so the wood stick and copper wire works GREAT. I have NOT used any poison's at All. It only cost $3.00 to get 10 foot of wire at Lows I will put out 3 or 4 next year. this is with a garden of about 150 foot long 38 tomato's 4 rows of Green beans, 2 Zucchini plants, 2 squash plants, and 4 cucumbers, and 1 cantaloupe plants. The 1 wood stick with the copper wire has done Great in all of that. I put it in the tomato row.
<span>Wendell Mcqueary</span> Thu, 06/06/2024 - 07:32
Please provide more details. Such as length, size, placement, times of use, etc. Pics would be nice, and if you could, an explanation of how and why it works. Thank You.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 07/06/2023 - 09:15

Thank you so much for sharing, Tony! This sounds like an economical and effective solution.

 <span>Victoria Thomas</span> Fri, 06/09/2023 - 12:41
Hi, I'm a journalist who often writes about insects. Please note that the photo of the hornworm covered with what looks like bobbing grains of rice is not covered with tachnid wasp EGGS. This is a common rookie mistake. Those white things are pupae, cocoons, not eggs. The parasitic tachnic wasp injects her ovipositor into the living caterpillar, filling the caterpiillar's body cavity with almot microscopic eggs. They mature INSIDE the caterpillar, eating it alive in the process from the inside-out. FInally, the larvae of the WASP form cocoons and push through the caterpillar's skin, still attached to the living host. Eventually they burst out of their cocoons and fly off. Here's my article, which you are permitted to re-publish: https://www.peacefuldumpling.com/breaks-a-butterfly-upon-a-wheel
<span>Anne</span> Thu, 06/06/2024 - 09:42
how valuable is a Hummingbird Moth at getting other bugs?