Photo: Praying Mantis dines on tomato horn worm

Botetourt gardeners view the tomato horn worm, a destructive caterpillar with disdain.  In a night, a large horn worm can strip a tomato plant of leaves effectively killing the plant.

However nature’s coolest garden predator, the praying mantis, dined on a two inch horn worm just a few miles west of Fincastle. In less than five minutes the mantis ripped the horn worm in to two pieces and had him for a quick snack.

Do you have a photo to share? submit@thebotetourtbee.com. Include a brief cut line or a few sentences about your photo and when it was taken.