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Full circle!
Posted 12-08-2009 at 03:27 AM by Rebelwolf
A little over 4 years ago I was terrified of moths! All that changed when I discovered a beautiful Elephant Hawk moth on the garden fence in June 2005 and took some photographs of it. I had no idea moths could be so beautiful! From that day on I was hooked and would leave lights on in the hose all night in an attempt to attract as many different types of moth as I could and try to take photos of them.
Today, Paul (my partner) was weeding in the front garden and he called me to show me an unusual caterpillar he had found. As soon as I saw it I thought I recognised it from pictures I had seen on the web. I quickly turned to Google's image search and sure enough I was right - it was an Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar!
A little more googling turned up some great info from this site on how to rear this caterpillar and I immediately made a nice 'home' for him and christened him Cecil (you may know the childrens joke, always recited with a lisp, which begins "Cecil is a caterpillar and Cecil is my friend; the last time I saw Cecil he was this big, etc.).
We then took our dog for a walk and tracked down some willowherb which Cecil has spent the evening chowing down on. I am determined to help Cecil with his journey from caterpillar to moth and am really excited about seeing him finally emerge next May/June time - 5years after seeing my first and only Elephant Hawk moth - it will be like coming full circle!
Today, Paul (my partner) was weeding in the front garden and he called me to show me an unusual caterpillar he had found. As soon as I saw it I thought I recognised it from pictures I had seen on the web. I quickly turned to Google's image search and sure enough I was right - it was an Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar!
A little more googling turned up some great info from this site on how to rear this caterpillar and I immediately made a nice 'home' for him and christened him Cecil (you may know the childrens joke, always recited with a lisp, which begins "Cecil is a caterpillar and Cecil is my friend; the last time I saw Cecil he was this big, etc.).
We then took our dog for a walk and tracked down some willowherb which Cecil has spent the evening chowing down on. I am determined to help Cecil with his journey from caterpillar to moth and am really excited about seeing him finally emerge next May/June time - 5years after seeing my first and only Elephant Hawk moth - it will be like coming full circle!
Total Comments 5
Comments
 |  Excellent! Make sure you photograph cecil at all the stages of his life and record how long he stays in his cocoon! |
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| |  Thanks, wildlifepilgrim, I'm hoping to get plenty of photos although after reading the info here, I suspect the only place we may have cool enough for Cecil after he pupates is the loft...not the best place for taking photos nor the easiest for monitoring but I will certainly do my best. I see you are located in Leicester - we are in Hinckley so maybe not too far from you? Thanks again...and, as they say, watch this space  |
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| | We are in Thurmaston! For my Sawflies, They needed to be kept in the dark whilst in their cocoons, but I took them into our conservatory for photos. The thing to remember is to make the photos look natural. i.e. find a big leaf and photograph Cecil on the leaf. I've had plenty of photos rejected because they have too much jam jar in them! |
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| | Cecil worries...Hi, wildlifepilgrim, thanks for your reply and great tips. Thurmaston - I have family there! Fancy that! I'm glad I managed to snap a few pics of Cecil when we first 'homed' him on Tuesday as he seems to have gone 'underground' during the night! Any idea how long it will take for him to turn as I don't want to disturb him unless it's safe to do so? The other issue I have now is how to keep him cool. I didn't expect him to pupate for another 3 or 4 weeks and we don't have a cool house here! I was planning to put him in the loft over winter but it's still quite warm up there at the moment. From what I've read, if he isn't kept cool he could emerge after about 4 weeks - having said that, I'm wondering whether this will happen to other Elephant Hawk moth caterpillars out there, too? If the weather stays warm/humid and others are beginning to pupate, is it possible we could see a second emergence this year and if so, would it be best to encourage Cecil to emerge early? I hope I'm not overwhelming you with all my questions - I can't believe I'm feeling as maternal towards him as I did my son when he was little! I'm really concerned about making a mistake and harming him! Any help and advice you can give - or if you know someone I could contact locally for advice - would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much  |
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| | Hmmm, maybe ask in the forum, I'm not an expert on hawk moths. It might be nice to know if Cecils Chrysalis could be dug up without damaging him, so that the Gallery could have a photo. To keep him cool, just find the darkest place in your house that is near to the floor. i.e the bottom of a broom cupboard or something. I'd also like to know if Cecil will overwinter or not now! |
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- Full circle! (12-08-2009)
