Gardener discovers the unusual 'beast' behind backyard's problems: 'I didn't know what they were …'

When you're tempted to break out the tape measure to get the exact size of an insect, you know you're dealing with a monstrous bug.

A gardener didn't just think about it; they actually got an official measurement of a monstrous bug and shared some pictures with the r/gardening subreddit.

"Found the biggest hornworm I've ever seen on my tomatillos!!" they announced. 

On the plant in the first picture, the gigantic hornworm blended in with the color but dwarfed the size of the roots. It compared favorably to the OP's fingers. The second photo showed the hornworm exceeding three inches in length on the tape measure despite not lying flat.

Redditors were awestruck by the insect.

"Put a collar and a leash on it, FFS," a user joked.

A commenter added tongue-in-cheek: "Right? Go register that beast with the town and be sure to bring proof of rabies vaccination."

The situation wasn't as much of a laughing matter for the OP. They revealed it had eaten two of their tomatillo bushes. Fortunately, it'd spared their tomato plants. That wasn't the case for a thread visitor.

"I didn't know what they were until someone posted a picture of one," the visitor wrote. "They decimated my tomato and pepper plants in just a few days."

While they're a nuisance to gardeners, a Redditor noted that they evolve into beneficial pollinators, like hawk or sphinx moths, that help native plants. There are a bunch of ways to deal with them that don't include resorting to pesticides that will indiscriminately hurt your garden and the local ecosystem.

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One option is using borage as a companion plant for tomatoes and other favorites of hornworms. You can also use native plants to try to attract beneficial insects like green lacewings, which will gladly take the hornworms off your plants.

Rewilding with native plants, clover, buffalo grass, and xeriscaping can do plenty more besides support natural pest control. These approaches offer benefits such as reduced water bills, lower maintenance costs, and less time maintaining your lawn and garden.

For the OP, while they'd seemed to take the hornworm sighting in stride, it actually was wearing on them.

"Okay so I actually did have nightmares about him last night!" they admitted. "I dreamt that I woke up and my entire garden was eaten and all that was left were hundreds of these thicc boys."

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