the creature

I am on the hunt for a big green caterpillar I found in my garden. I think it is a Great Ash Sphinx caterpillar, or Sphinx chersis.

I have only seen it once and mistakenly left it in the garden, thinking maybe it would eat some of the aphids and mites that have been plaguing the eggplant. Upon further research, I learned that these types of caterpillars are otherwise known as "tomato hornworms"; they eat your precious fruits and vegetables! I went back to get him and any of his buddies, but they were nowhere to be found . I know they are in there somewhere, as the holes in my cantaloupes and the missing peppers tell me so. Interestingly enough, they haven't eaten any tomatoes.