Elephant Hawk Moth Portrait by Sarahorsomeone on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

A face-on macro photograph of an Elephant Hawk Moth (Deilephila elpenor).

His name is Eric if anyone is interested. I got him as a caterpillar last year, I overwintered him as a pupa and this morning he emerged as a moth. Providing it's not tipping down with rain I'll release him this evening.

EDIT: Thanks so much for the Daily Deviation! Thanks also to everyone for all the lovely comments and the favourites; I can't reply to everyone individually but rest assured I have read every comment and really appreciate it. I'm just making an attempt to reply to people with specific questions at the moment.

FAQ (because I'm struggling to keep up with all the messages I've had since this was made a DD)

Is this really his natural colour?

Yes, elephant hawk moths are actually pink and green (the colour shown). This colour allows them to blend in with the leaves and buds of honeysuckle (the favourite food plant of the adult moths, they drink the nectar).

I shoot all my photographs in RAW so I have to choose saturation level as part of processing the RAW file into a JPEG, but I tried to keep the colours true to life.

Why is he called Eric?

1. He was named after Eric Carle, the man who wrote and illustrated "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".
2. Eric starts with an E for elephant hawk moth.
3. I thought it would be amusing to give a caterpillar a human-sounding name (and he needed a name because 'my elephant hawk moth caterpillar' was somewhat of a mouthful)

Why are elephant hawk moths called elephant hawk moths?

He might not look like an elephant now, but the caterpillars have a trunk-like mouth, and that's how the moth gets its name.

What parts of the world are they found in?

Well this one is from England, but according to Wikipedia: "The species is found throughout Britain and Ireland. Its range extends across Europe, Russia, and into China, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Korea (though not Taiwan). Introduced specimens have been found in British Columbia." Wikipedia page here: [link]