First thought: aw ... it's gonna be a pretty butterfly ... then I Google'd it.
Second thought: Get it outta the garden!! Wasps ... um, no ... then I read more.
Third thought: Keep it in the garden!
Lesson learned this is an unfortunate tomato hornworm with parasitic braconid wasp larva. Tomato hornworms by themselves eat, eat, eat and can destroy gardens in no time. But ... nature came to the rescue and the braconid wasp laid its eggs inside to mature.
Sadly (for the hornworm), this process paralyzes the hornworm while providing nutrients for the tiny, harmless wasps to mature to then start the cycle on another hornworm. Hence, the hornworm destroys plants in my garden no more! And, the wasps pose no harm to us humans aside from the first scare of hearing the word "wasp".
Best natural way to rid them from my garden!
