Hello again. It's just such a shock to have so much lovely weather, long may it continue.
We have had a really busy weekend here, so this morning it was nice to go down to the service at St.Anne's Church in Bucks Mills (just down the road). The service is held here fortnightly and whilst we only have a small congregation, the service is always special, and the Church is just so lovely inside. It's magic sitting in the Church on a Sunday morning that I know so many of my family have also shared over the many decades.
I need some help here - Ross has found a really pretty green and pink dead moth. Does anyone know what kind of moth it is? We would be really pleased to know, as we have never seen a moth like this. Hope someone knows.
Thank you for reading. More Hill Top Tails tomorrow.
That's a Large Elephant Hawk Moth; there's nothing else in the UK that looks at all like that species. They're not at all uncommon; the larval food plant is rose bay willow herb, and the caterpillars have a curious trick for dissuading predatory birds from attacking them. What they do is stand up on their back prolegs, open up a pair of large eyespots on the front end and sway about, looking very like a particularly convincing snake-mimic that looks even more snake-ish than a real snake does. Most of the time a bird is going to be so disconcerted by this display that it leave the harmless caterpillar alone.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dan. We had neither seen or heard of an Elephant Hawk Moth before Ross found this one. We are very grateful to you for giving us this information. Best wishes from all at Hill Top.
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