elephant hawk moth caterpillar

[trish60]

I had quite a shock today when I looked at my devastated fuschia plant to see this enormous caterpillar.
In fact there were 5 of them .
The largest was 8cm & as thick as a biro which is apparently fully grown & the smallest was about 5cm.
As they are nearly fully grown & I think may be quite rare ???? I don't want to kill them but has anyone got any ideas where i could move the smaller ones to.
They like willow bay herb but I haven't got any of that.

[lynda66]

anything that big should not be allowed to turn into a moth *faints

[ginger ninger]

Apparently they love the Great and the Rosebay Willow herb but will eat your Fuchsias if they aren't available. They're usually found resting during the day in leaf and other debris. The adult is absolutely beautiful, but as to what else to suggest you could feed your caterpillars on I'm at a loss.

[binley100]

This must be a good year for them , my Dad has had loads on his fuschias as well , he took some cuttings in case they ate the lot , but a couple of days later they just vanished .........

[lynda66]

is never growing fuschias again .... although i'm not sure we get them this far north, never seen one *shudders

[lynda66]

Elephant Hawk Moth - Wild About Britain

quite useful ... didn't read it all though .... was getting goose pimples

[trish60]

Elephant Hawk Moth - Wild About Britain

quite useful ... didn't read it all though .... was getting goose pimples

Thanks for that link.
Looks like I will need to sacrifice my fuchsia.
Honestly have never seen anything like it.
Luckily I took some cuttings a few weeks ago.

[Two_Sheds]

They are now really common in the south, we used to get the adults hovering up on our balcony in Brighton.

I found a privet hawk moth caterpillar t'other day, it's really beautiful

[chris]

I'd have freaked, ran around screaming. I hate caterpillars.. owt else I'm fine with (bar changing nappies ) - but caterpillars, erk !

[ginger ninger]

is never growing fuschias again .... although i'm not sure we get them this far north, never seen one *shudders

We get lots of them on some scrub land near by, also the Hummingbird Hawk-moth visits my garden not as often as I'd like though

[lynda66]

We get lots of them on some scrub land near by, also the Hummingbird Hawk-moth visits my garden not as often as I'd like though

if one ever gets into my house, you can come get it then .... cos i'm moving out .... i rather like caterpillars .... specially the little hairy one we found at grapestock that sarz christened dougal ..... but anything that size unfortunately comes in under the snake category

[quark1]

I had a bright green version a couple of years back.

Put it in a jar with privet cuttings - evolved to chrysalis - overwintered and one day the following spring there was a flapping of wings and magnificent new adult creature made it way onto the world stage.

If you can save a few and nurture to maturity it would be great and if you could show kids along the way - even better!

Not seen any my way this year - sooooo jealous!

[trish60]

I went out tonight & they've gone (as has the fuschsia plant)
I feel strangely protective towards them & they haven't gone to the nearby fuschsia which is in a pot.
I would have liked to keep one so I'll keep looking as some of them were not fully grown.

[annacruachan]

I photographed an elephant hawk moth caterpillar yesterday on the terrace, which is surrounded by fuchsia hedges and has plenty of willowherb in the cracks. I was surprised to find it this far north.

[quark1]

You'll never guess how lucky I've been today.....I no longer have to be 'jealous' - one of my cats brought home a 'tribute' and it turned out to be the Privet Hawk Moth Caterpillar - the green one!

Now this little beastie is very fortunate indeed as the one who delivered it is my most lethal huntress and killer (hangs head in shame - but considerable vermine eliminated by this one!).

It is very fat, about the length of my index finger (I have a small hand) and from my last experience I think it will go to the chrysallis stage within the week. I've housed it a decent sized jar filled with privet which will be changed every other day. I've replaced the lid with an old plastic humus pot with many holes punched in it with a hot screwdriver and affixed it with sellotape strips. The paper and rubber band contraption I constructed last time was too easily removed/torn by the cats.

All I have to do is watch and wait for the changes to happen!

Like a big kid at heart and well-chuffed!