Hornworm!

I found several of these hornworms on my tomato plants last week. They can be hard to spot so I don't look for them, but instead what is missing...in this case, the leaves at the end of the stem. In the last two years I was not vigilant (to my chagrin) because they are voracious eaters and can defoliate an entire plant in a day or so. You can also look for dark pellets on the leaves; these are their droppings.

They seem to appear just when my tomato plants are full of green fruit and then they eat everything. This year, I've been on the lookout and given the plants a daily visual inspection. Thus far, this easy approach has been effective! I just cut off the bit of plant they are eating and dispose of both. While I will happily smash squash bugs (with gloves), I am a bit too squeamish to just squish a hornworm.

I believe this is actually a tobacco hornworm, based on some brief googling this morning. This site has some wonderful information about the life cycle of this interesting garden pest. If I ever see one with wasp eggs, I'll be sure to get a picture.