OMG

Britains biggest hawk moth, the Privet Hawk Moth, in MILs garden (2 doors away)!

 

...... and two of them!!!! Wow!!!!

Lucky you to have been there with your camera handy! .... and being able to even pick one up! :gnthb:

Have you ever seen them around your area before RR?

Thanks for sharing.

 

wow

what a treat


loopy

 

nope, I have never ever seen them before in my life. the bug books we have were useless cos they were illustrations and didnt colour them right, so I had to look them up online. Once when I was a child we had a huge privet hedge & I saw the weird Privet Hawk Moth caterpillar. I showed my kids online what they look like & they're dying to see them "in the flesh". we have a few small privet hedges and a dwarf lilac for them to feed on, so will keep my eyes peeled

 

I have seen a few around here but not recently. They are so distinctive when they open their wings and show the pink and black colouring on the body.:gnthb:

 

Well caught on camera RandyRos. Thank you.
I once spent an evening in Brittany (I think) running about with my camera trying to get a pic and failed miserably.