On 20/7/04 12:49, in article ,
"Tim Challenger" wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 10:05:07 +0100, Sacha wrote:

Last year quite a few of us remarked that we had seen Hummingbird Hawk Moths
in our gardens and that this was due to the long, hot period at the end of
summer. But now I'm wondering if they will have produced young and if so,
when we should expect to see them? I haven't seen any of their gigantic
cocoons which, I'm guessing, would be on or near a favoured food source?
I've suddenly thought of this while looking out of the window at Salvia
involucrata which seemed to be a great favourite of theirs.

You won't find the cocoons on plants, they pupate in the soil. The pupae
are a chestnut brown and about an inch long. They don't make a cocoon
afaik.

My faulty memory then. I could have sworn I'd seen a large cocoon hanging
from a bush in Jersey several years ago and being told that's what it was.
From memory (long ago) I'd say it was about 3" long, possibly more.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)