Mr caterpillar with a huge head!

[chefgage]

Not sure if this is classed as a pest as it does not appear to have done any damage. I found him or her in amongst the gooseberry bushes. A bit of a Google and I think it's a giant elephant moth caterpillar.



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[Nicos]

Looks like one to me too!

Wonderful aren't they?

[lottie dolly]

I would say so,not very often i see one down the lottie,they are fascinating to watch move,

[mothhawk]

Yes, elephant hawkmoth. It will munch your leaves, especially fuchsia if you have some, but as you generally only find one or two at a time the damage they do is very minimal. Not like cabbage whites or tortoiseshells and such that lay loads of eggs in one place so dozens of caterpillars strip your plants.

[chefgage]

I must admit it did give me a shock when I saw it. Never seen one that big before. I put it back where I found it. It did not want to let go of the stick it was holding!

[skeggijon]

Yep Elephant Hawkmoth. I had loads of them last year, but they only seemed to trouble the weeds which I erm deliberately left for them to munch on
Not seen any this year though, although I have tons of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars which develop into a beautiful red and black day flying moth

[rosiepumpkin]

one of those is welcome n my greenhouse. at the moment i have lots of tiny treen ones and bigger green, brown and yellow ones eating my tomato leaves, tomatoes, and the chickweed.

[Bren In Pots]

I had one of those in my garden last summer it looked more like a cartoon caterpillar instead of a real one.

[Knight of Albion]

Yay! I love these, quite often see them in my area. Amazing things.