BeneficialTobacco hornworm
Paper wasps for tobacco hornworm
Polistes spp. · wild predator (stings)
Against tobacco hornworm
NC State notes that Polistes wasps use hornworms and other caterpillars as food for their larvae. When paper wasp nests were placed in tobacco fields, hornworm numbers fell by 60% and crop damage by 74% (Lawson et al. 1961, cited by Jandt et al. 2024). In a garden that means leaving nests under eaves or in sheds where nobody will be stung, rather than spraying them.
RateWild — tolerate nests away from doors and paths
TimingSpring through late summer, while nests are raising young
macro · paper wasps on tobacco hornworm
The pestTobacco hornwormManduca sextaWhole leaves eaten, green fruit gougedFull pest profile →Before you act
Slender wasps with a thin waist and dangling legs, nesting in open, umbrella-shaped paper combs under eaves. They hunt caterpillars to feed their larvae, and they can sting. A nest away from doors and paths is usually worth leaving. How to recognise it, what it is confused with and how to keep it around are on the full Paper wasps profile.
Other controls for tobacco hornworm
- Braconid waspsWild parasitoid · Nothing to release — leave the caterpillar where it is
- Bacillus thuringiensis kurstakiMicrobial insecticide · Label rate — DiPel DF lists tobacco hornworm (0.5–1.0 lb per acre on tobacco); the Thuricide home label names only tomato hornworm, at 1–3 tsp per gallon on tomato, pepper and eggplant
- Tachinid fliesWild parasitoid · Wild — keep nectar plants near the crop, no broad-spectrum sprays
- Trichogramma spp.Egg parasitoid wasp · 50k–100k /acre weekly (1–2 /ft² in gardens)