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Wednesday 19 June 2019

Elephant hawk moth


Newly emerged Elephant Hawk Moth, Deilephila elpenor, in a garden in the centre of Ovenden this evening.
After about three hours in this position the wings are almost fully pumped out.
Photographing one is a minor ambition realised, having only seen them in books before!

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations Julian! Did you rear it from a caterpillar? My moth ambition is to find an Emperor Moth on the moors. May have missed them yet again this year! I've seen the caterpillar twice, but never the moth.

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    1. Thanks Steve, not raised from a caterpillar - purely a wild animal! I've wanted to see an elephant hawk moth almost all my life, ever since my dad described finding the caterpillars in Elland when he was a kid in the forties.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Sophie S. I put a thumbs up but it was posted as a question mark.

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  3. Bet that one brought a smile to your face! They look almost too spectacular to occur in our neck of the woods, more a tropical species. Just goes to show what flies at night when everyone's tucked up in bed.

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    1. A spectacular insect anywhere! Interesting how it lays its antennae along the leading edge of its forewings.

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