Field library

Tobacco Hornworm

A very large green caterpillar, as thick as a finger, with slanting white lines along its side and a curved horn on its tail end. It eats whole tobacco leaves at night and can strip a plant bare, leaving only the thick midribs and its coarse black droppings on the ground. There are never many of them, but each one eats a great deal.

How to scout

Walk the rows in the early morning and look under the leaves wherever you see large ragged holes or piles of coarse black droppings on the soil.