Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar - a photo on Flickriver

            I usually find a handful of these enormous caterpillars each year on various Willowherbs but today I found two wandering randomly nowhere near vegetation.  This one was about 9cm long, velvety brown, with a horn at the rear end and two pairs of eyespots at the front.  In America they call Hawk Moth caterpillars Horn Worms because of the spike at the rear.  The original name of this moth was simply "The Elephant", but the name was for the caterpillar's resemblance to an Elephant's trunk, nothing to do with the adult moth.  Though the resemblance is probably mimicking a small snake to deter bird predation.  The scientific name is Deilephila elpenor, and I used to think that elpenor meant elephant.  But Elpenor was a companion of Odysseus (Ulysses) who was turned into a pig by the sorceress Circe.  When the head of this caterpillar retracts into the body it resembles a pig's snout.  The related Small Elephant Hawk is called porcellus which means piglet, for the same reason.  The generic name Deilephila means "evening loving" from the crepuscular habits (though most moths are crepuscular).
   

Taken on: August 24, 2019

Tags:

Deilephila

elpenor

Hawk

Moth

caterpillar

larva

South

Yorkshire

Tim Melling « less

Sets appears in: • British Moths

Stats: 4,733 views / 11 comments

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