LOL ! Noooooooooo I cant !
I must admit they are one of the nastiest looking critters on God's green earth ! But 20, that would freak me out ! I had one last year and that was one too many !

I wouldn't ordinarly gross people out but you sound like you want bad things to happen to the worms.
In the pic it looks like there might be cocoons attached to it's head. That would be pupae of a wasp which is a mortal enemy to horn worms and by far the most effective natural control. The wasp deposits eggs at a time that has larva feast inside the worm before exiting and attaching outside while feeding and pupatating. If you see cocoons on a worm,leave it be or place it in a shaded container to alow the wasps to complete thier life cycle. Unless you have a large plot of toms,20 worms is unemaginable. They likly came from another host plant in or near the garden. Host plants include the nightshade family. The problem is likly over until spring but you should beware of the host plant and control there same as the toms. BTW,your plant looks good if it is in Dallas with 3 digit temps.

Stinkbugs are worse by far.

For tomatoes, I'm afraid Late Blight is the worst thing that could possibly happen. It kills indiscriminately, quickly and even manages to damage a lot of your fruit in the process.

CH

can anyone name a pest worst than these evil hornworms!

Yeah, several. Blister beetles and stink bugs for tomatoes. For other vegetables - squash vine borer, squash bugs, Colorado Potato Beetles, cucumber beetles, etc. would all rank higher on the list for me than hornworms.

Sorry :-)

Dave

I have to agree with squash bugs and s v borers ranking high on the "hope they don't find me" scale. I would compare s v borers to chiggers because you don't know they are biteing until it's too late. Horn worms are like skeeters which give you the option of useing repelant , going indoors or fighting it out. Horn worms are destructive but if one examines plants daily,they can be controled albeit labor intensive. Formost is that horn worms can be organicly controled but squash bugs and borers are next to impossiable even with chemicals which is why I usualy just destroy plants and pests rather than fight.

They (the hornworms) were actually something of a treat to have... for my puppy that is. After taking off the tomatoe plant Belle would play with and then eventually eat them. I told my honey that belle got 4-6 servings of greens today.

But boy can they defoliate a branch overnight.

tom

Squash Vine Borers are worse, IMO. At least the hornworms can be picked off when damage is seen. SVB's do damage and are often impossible to remove and have plant recover.

Hate them with a rather violent passion...

At least the chickens can eat the hornworms.