On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:36:31 +0100, Sacha wrote:

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.

Well, I've dug a couple up and let then hatch in a jam jar to see what they
were...maybe they do both. I've done a bit of looking up and it seems we
might both be right. They do pupate on the host plant or in debris on the
ground. Maybe mine just thought it was too cold on the surface. :-)
http://tpittaway.tripod.com/sphinx/m_ste.htm
The colour is also variable, as mine were definitely darker brown than the
photo shows.

There is a really big moth that *is* as big as a humming-bird - not the
humming-bird hawk moth. I've seen some in Austria and Switzerland, maybe
they make it to Jersey as well, I wouldn't be surprised. Could it have been
the cocoon of one of those?

--
Tim C.