tomato hornworm

noun

: a North American hawk moth (Manduca quinquemaculata) whose green larva is a hornworm feeding on leaves of plants of the nightshade family and especially tobacco and tomato

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

East of Cascades: Check for tomato hornworm. —oregonlive, 1 Aug. 2022

What is a tomato hornworm? —Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 June 2022

Plant basil with them to repel tomato hornworm. —Carol Stocker, BostonGlobe.com, 22 May 2022

Handpicking will usually control a tomato hornworm problem. —Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 June 2022

Common pests include the tomato hornworm (a large green caterpillar that can be picked off by hand), aphids (which can be sprayed with a mild solution of soapy water), and whiteflies. —Christopher Michel, Country Living, 19 Apr. 2021

For example, the aforementioned and dreaded tomato hornworm metamorphizes into the large sphinx moth, a nighttime pollinator important to pitahaya and other night-blooming plants. —Linda Jones, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Sep. 2020

But as with the tomato hornworm, these efforts to disseminate truth did not change how the rumors spread. —Scientific American, 3 Sep. 2019

This appearance of the tomato hornworm was followed by terrifying reports of fatal poisonings and aggressive behavior toward people. —Scientific American, 3 Sep. 2019

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Word History

First Known Use

1921, in the meaning defined above