An Elephant Hawkshead Caterpillar.
Our nearest neighbour found this in her garden while weeding. We now home it. Apparently you only see the caterpillar when it is getting ready to pupate. As her husband is the obsessive lawn cutter, strimmer, hedge cutter I think she feared it would not survive. But in our more wild weed friendly garden it had a chance. So it was brought to us. About 3 inches long it wandered up and down the DP'S hand and delighted the grandkids we were skyping with. So it was deposited on some Rosebay Willow Herb.
The markings on it are to deter anything wanting to eat it. These are not eyes but by gum it looks scary. Once in the pupation stage it will remain so until next year. The moth likes honeysuckle . We have that in abundance. So fingers crossed. We will get a Moth next year.
Elephant Hawkshead Moth.
Earlier the DP and I went to the Prom.
First time ever I have seen a barbecue on the beach. I just hope they cleaned up afterwards. The smell was delicious which cannot have been liked by the Beach Cafe!
Our Lifeboat was away on a call out.
Small fishing boat.
Speed Boat.
Plenty Gulls on shore and at sea.
And not many people on the beach.
Some enjoying the sea.
An interesting day. I am now an adoptive Mum to a potential Moth - whatever next.
8 comments:
Good Luck to the caterpillar!,I hope it survives.Thing is with me though...I am terrified of moths,lol.I love butterflies,but if a moth gets in my living room..or bedroom..it always makes a bee line for me to land on!!.Then we have screaming around the room,lol.Loving your photos as always,xx
We used to have those in our garden - the children thought they were amazing! We have lots of Willowherb here, but haven't seen any caterpillars for several years now, which is a shame.
I am sure I heard something about BBQ's now being deemed bad for the environment and people being encouraged to eat melon instead. Yet on the other side of the world the Amazon is being deliberately burnt to a cinder. . . .
I've never heard them called Elephant HawksHEAD moths before, just Elephant Hawk moths. I love them, we used to have lots in the garden when our large veggie patch was neglected for a few years due to other commitments. They spend the winter as a pupa buried in plant debris or in loose soil near the susface. We also had Privit Hawk moths. As a child I used to love Tiger Moth caterpillars with their long furry coats.
What a beautiful moth.
God bless.
Beautiful as a moth Scary as a catterpillar. Do hope it survives.
Wonderful caterpillar. Please post photos as he goes along.
We kept one in a jar when DS was little and it did turn into the beautiful moth when it was released into the garden. One of his caterpillars had to be left with a friend when we went on holiday as it hadn't emerged.
That is a gorgeous moth. But as a knitter I am not too enamored of their eating preferences.
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