News: September 2004

A gardener in Somerset has found some caterpillars of the death's head hawkmoth feeding on potato plants in her garden.

The death's head hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos) is a huge moth (the largest which occurs in Britain) famously named for the skull-like markings on the thorax of the adult. The moth breeds in southern Europe and in Africa but is a regular migrant to Britain in small numbers. Although the adult migrants sometimes lay eggs (commonly on potatoes), the huge caterpillars will pupate but cannot survive the British winter.

ThisIsSomerset. 2004. The Very Hungry Giant Caterpillars. Viewed on the web at http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=147478&contentPK=10883843 on September 6th 2004.