Your jar experiment revealed a fascinating biological drama. Those white "tubes" on the hornworm are cocoons of braconid wasps. Females inject eggs into the caterpillar; larvae feed internally, then emerge to spin cocoons. The tiny flying insects? Adult wasps.
Parasitized hornworms stop eating. Leave them be—the emerging wasps will patrol your garden, laying eggs in other hornworms. It's free, self-perpetuating pest control.
Don't kill parasitized caterpillars. If you must move one, relocate it to a tomato plant away from the house. The wasps are harmless to people and pets. Celebrate this sign of a balanced ecosystem.
Tomato hornworm with wasp cocoons
Hornworm feces
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