hello! september 9th was my birthday (yesterday lol)
and something happened that i wasnt expecting holy shit
i have tomato plants i grow every year
well i went outside and boom. these tomatoes stems were gone.
nothing but a stick. something had ate it overnight and i was like "darnnit"
there was also a weird smell coming from it (foreshadowing lol)
i wasn't upset because i had two, this one had no tomatoes on it so i wasnt heartbroken
well the next day, i look at the one with tomatoes growing on it and theres a HUGE weird lookin green thing on it
i realized it was a plump caterpillar! it was green with white stripes on it, and had weird spikes on its back
well i looked it up, its called a tomato hornworm
its not good
heres whats happening to the worm:
these spikes are parasitic wasp cocoons
a female wasp stuck her thingy into this caterpillar and laid eggs
these larva hatched to eat the insides of the caterpillar
and eventually chew its way threw the caterpillars skin and create a lil tunnel
continue to feed on its organs as the poor thing is living
but paralyzed, unable to move, eat, exept move its head.
eventually the wasps will break free and kill the hornworm in the process
after learning this, i checked the other plant that was eaten already and
there was a dead caterpillar that was infested with parasites, except there was ANOTHERspecies of wasps, paper wasps, eating its rotten body
it was almost decapitated; it was literally held together by a piece of skin.
what should i do with the living one? end its sufferings? or let the wasps take their course? heck, the wasps dont sting/bite and are good for our environment
idk man
thank god it was paralyzed before it got to my tomatoes tho
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Fuck wasps! Kill them all!![:marseybeheading: :marseybeheading:](https://i.watchpeopledie.tv/e/marseybeheading.webp)
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Happy belated Birthday! 🥳🍻🍰
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thank u !
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Wow 4 days from larvae to wasp feels unreal
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Holy shit that's crazy. Thanks for sharing!!
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As long as the tomatoes are fine, do what your conscience dictates. Tomatoes are important.
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i know right <3 thank u
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Late happy birthday!
From doing my own little google research it's probably not in pain or much "alive"
They tend to be turned into some protective kind of host.
Found a interesting artice here: https://www.wired.com/2014/10/absurd-creature-week-glyptapanteles-wasp-caterpillar-bodyguard/
Eventually it will die, so i guess the question for you to answer is if you want the lil wasps to grow up or do you want to get rid of this tiny horror story called nature you're looking at.
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thank you so much!!
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You let those little fuckers suffer. They'll eat every single plant you ever grow if they're allowed to. Plus, the wasps are beneficial insects, like you said.
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Happy day of birth, I suppose
And yeah, might as well just kill it.
If it's been doomed to parasites, then its life is already over.
Just end its suffering.
Poor, innocent organism subjected to another and its cute twinky inability to survive on its own, and whose prolonged existence only means dragging others down with it.
Parasitic organisms truly have no right to life.
I wish they would collectively fall out of existence.
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thank uuuu :)
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Nothing innocent about shithead hornworms.
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No pics?
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do u want me to post some?
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Sooooo
What happened?
Tell tell![:marseyexcited: :marseyexcited:](/e/marseyexcited.webp)
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Happy belated, and for the record, fuck hornworms, they have been chowing down on my tomato plants too, so it's nice to see their little world getting fucked.
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