On 2013-08-13 18:42:13 +0000, David in Normandy said:

On 13/08/2013 20:12, sacha wrote:
On 2013-08-13 11:50:09 +0000, David in Normandy said:

On 13/08/2013 13:34, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Tue, 13 Aug 2013 11:50:48 +0200, David in Normandy
wrote:

Just found a huge caterpillar while harvesting some potatoes.
Never seen one this big in my life. Anyone recognise it or know what
butterfly or moth variety it belongs to?

http://s288.photobucket.com/user/uyq...illar.jpg.html


Normally I kill caterpillars but didn't have the heart to kill this
magnificent beast despite it scoffing my potato foliage; so I released
it elsewhere in the garden.

I'm fairly certain it's a European death's head hawk moth Acherontia
atropos. If you are impressed by the caterpillar just wait until you
see the moth. They are about 5" across. I raised one in a shoe box all
the way to moth stage when I was a kid. They can make rather
surprising sounds. They will kill honey bees to get into hives for the
honey if that's relevant. The bees don't fight back.

Steve


Oh dear me! I released the caterpillar near to a tree where some bees
set up a hive a few months ago. I can't find the caterpillar now.

It looks as if it's the moths that ignore/kill the bees, not the
caterpillars. I do hope he or she is hotfooting it back to your potato
patch though that wish may not too popular with you! One site I looked
at said that every lepidopterist should try to raise at least one
death's head hawk caterpillar to moth incarnation!

He'd better hurry up because I'm harvesting all the potatoes, a couple
of rows each day. They will all be up within a fortnight. I'm
determined not to leave them in the ground too late this year - I had
problems with blight last year rotting the tubers and the ones that
seemed OK didn't keep well over winter. The potato tops are starting to
yellow a bit now, so I think its time to lift them... got a bumper crop
of large spuds too. Variety = Daisy. They are great for chips.

Oh please leave a couple of plants for him! He won't be worrying you
much longer!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon