Elephant hawkmoth

[Keith D]

Hi

New to this forum
in the last 24 hours we have found 3 Elephant Hawkmoth catapilars
walking around our lawn and borders
i am lead to undertsand they are after the fushias which we have several
but they are in containers in the main

is there anything we should/shouldnot be doing to help them

2 where seen just in time walking across the lawn
is this normal please

many thanks

Keith D.

[GuyF]

Hi Keith, welcome to the site!
The fact that you have found them wandering around the garden would suggest that they've stopped feeding and are now looking for a place to pupate. They may have been feeding on your fuchsias, or alternatively on a species of willowherb if there's any growing in your garden. Once they've chosen a spot they will bury down a little way into the soil, overwinter as a pupa and then emerge next summer as the adult moth. So the best advice I can give is to leave them to get on with it, although if they are in any immediate danger it's probably best to move them to a sheltered spot where they can try and find a nice site to pupate.
Someone may be able to give you further advice, but I hope that has helped for the time being
Guy

[Keith D]

Originally Posted by GuyF

Hi Keith, welcome to the site!
The fact that you have found them wandering around the garden would suggest that they've stopped feeding and are now looking for a place to pupate. They may have been feeding on your fuchsias, or alternatively on a species of willowherb if there's any growing in your garden. Once they've chosen a spot they will bury down a little way into the soil, overwinter as a pupa and then emerge next summer as the adult moth. So the best advice I can give is to leave them to get on with it, although if they are in any immediate danger it's probably best to move them to a sheltered spot where they can try and find a nice site to pupate.
Someone may be able to give you further advice, but I hope that has helped for the time being
Guy

Oh Boy

Guy many thanks for reply
we have several pots/baskets of Fushias
these have been close to a barrel full which we where just about to
clear right out for fresh compost and bulbs.
we need a re-think here, that is not going to happen
next problem will be are they in the hanging baskets, we are thinking of just
cutting back fushias and putting remainder of basket contents into the garden
shed for the winter. i hope that will be ok.

again many thanks Guy

cheers for now

Keith D.