Do you know what this is?

We found this huge green worm on the tomatoes. The worm's back was covered with some sort of white eggs.

I've heard that a parasite wasp will attack tomato horn worms, but I had never seen it in action. If you see white sacks on the back of a tomato horn worm, don't kill it. The life of the worm is doomed anyway and you want to encourage parasite wasps in your garden.

I've never known much about the insects found in the garden. Usually, if I can't identify a bug or worm, I let it live, unless it is obvious it is damaging a plant. I don't want to risk killing one of the "good guys". This year I found a book (at a used book sale, of course) about garden insects. What I like best about this book is that it shows photos of each stage of development, from egg to adult. Insects can look so different at the various stages of life. Even with photos, I've had trouble positively identifying some of the grubs we've dug up.

One of the (small) things I think we've done right, is give our children a love for bugs. There is definitely times I have to choke back a shudder and fake delight, when I find a creepy crawler. It doesn't take long for children to pick up on my attitude. I'm glad that they still are excited to unearth a wiggler. They are far better then I at squishing potato bugs.

What is crawling in your garden?