Tomato Hornworm Being Eaten Alive

My relaxing stroll through the garden came to an abrupt halt when I happened upon the dreaded tomato hornworm. My very first vegetable garden, more than 20 years ago, yielded a giant tomato hornworm and not only did I have to call Grandma over to pluck the monster from my tomato plant, but I didn't step foot in that garden for the rest of the season.

This is only the second one I've seen in my life and, for some reason, this one didn't scare me as much as the first one did. I calmly broke the branch off of the plant, tossed it, along with the hornworm, into the fire pit and ran into the house to do a Google search to see why this one was covered with white protrusions.

The answer, courtesy of Kansas State University: "The tomato hornworm is parasitized by a number of insects. One of the most common is a small braconid wasp. Larva that hatch from wasp eggs laid on the hornworm feed on the inside of the hornworm until the wasp is ready to pupate. The cocoons appear as white projections protruding from the hornworm's body. If such projections are seen, leave the infected hornworms in the garden. The wasps will kill the hornworms when they emerge from the cocoons and will seek out other hornworms to parasitize."

GROSS! Although I appreciate their advice, there's no way I'm going to put that thing back in my garden.