On 2013-08-14 10:04:08 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme said:

On Tue, 13 Aug 2013 19:12:41 +0100, 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!

Yes, it's the moth that likes honey. The caterpillar does not need to
be in a potato patch as they have a wide diet. The one I had was fed
on dandelion, daisy and nightshade leaves.

Steve

Well, let's hope he finds all those. Nightshade would be in the potato
family, wouldn't it? The Solanaceae? And the other two are Asteraceae,
so those must be the preferred food for that caterpillar, presumably.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk