De Olifantsrups en het Groot Avondrood (Deilephila elpenor)

Seen at the Butterfly Garden at Waalre, the Netherlands: The Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) and its caterpillar.
The species is found throughout Europe. In most of their range, the adults are seen from May to July and the caterpillars from July to September, when they pupate. The larva is about 75mm long, green and brown in colour. Like most hawk moth caterpillars, they have a backward curving spine or "horn" on the final abdominal segment. The anterior of the caterpillar appears to have the shape of a trunk-like snout. It is this elephant look, rather than its large size, that gives the moth its name. When startled, the caterpillar draws its trunk into its foremost body segment. This posture resembles a snake with a large head and four large eye-like patches. Caterpillars are preyed upon by birds, but these shy away from caterpillars in "snake" pose.
The preferred food plants of the caterpillar are willowherb and bedstraw.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• groot
• avondrood
• olifantsrups
• nachtvlinders
• elephant
• hawk
• moth
• Deilephila
• elpenor
• caterpillar
• Vlindertuin
• Waalre

[MariaJBogaerts]

Hi,

As you may have read in the text to my recordings, it concerns the The Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar. It is about 75mm long, green and brown in colour. Like most hawk moth caterpillars, it has a backward curving spine or "horn" on the final abdominal segment. The anterior of the caterpillar has a trunk-like elephant snout, from which it derives its name. Impressive when you see it for the first time, isn't it?

Maria

[coondogtheman1234]

I saw a caterpillar like this on my steps and my sister tried to pick it up with a stick and its head went back into a sort of mantle and it looked at us like "you want a piece of me" and i stuck my camera in its face lol, heres a video but it doesnt have the part where it buffs its head up

youtube . com/watch?v=e-Bw-La8N68