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HUGE Caterpillar! ID ?
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 |
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