Moth mayhem

Yet more moths!! A friend dropped in today in a panic. A big moth had flown into her house and landed on her Vanish Stain Remover stick. Later she noticed the moth was dead on her utility room floor. When she went to do her washing the very next day she happened to spy tiny eggs on her Vanish stick. Luckily she had not disposed of the moth but had put it to one side so I could identify it for her when we next caught up with each other. Thank goodness she had because now I could identify the adult and source the appropriate food plant for the caterpillars when they hatch. The moth in question is a Popular Hawkmoth, Laothoe populi, and the caterpillars eat what the name suggests. I can not stop wondering what attracted her to that stick of stain remover and why she thought it was the perfect place to lay her precious eggs......

                                                                     * UPDATE *

Look its a complete life cycle! The Popular Hawkmoth eggs that were bought to me on the stain remover stick all hatched, grew and pupated. Today we have the first adults emerging and tonight we shall release them. Will note what sexes we get and if we get any colour variants. Feeling extremely full of maternal pride right now!

Hawkmoths produce the largest caterpillars in the UK.

Worth the wait and ready to go!