Elephant in the garden !!!

I could hardly believe my eyes as I checked the Skinner moth trap in the garden, I've been waiting nearly two years for one of these beauties to find its way into my moth trap. and there it was, unmistakable in all its pink and olive gaudy colouring, nonchalantly resting on an egg box.

 Slightly smaller than I imagined, and my first thought was Small Elephant, but the broken pink line down the middle of the abdomen confirmed its identity as a Elephant Hawk-moth, larger of the two similar species.

I know very little about these, I tend to wait until I come across a creature, before I read up on whatever I have seen.

So why is it called an Elephant Hawk-moth was my first thought, and the name comes from the caterpillars resemblance to an elephants trunk, the head and thorax are more slender than the rest of the body and, this can be said to look like an elephant's trunk.

Another interesting feature on the caterpillar are the two large eye spots behind the head, the caterpillar can retract its head into its thorax giving the appearance of a snake like creature, the two eye spots also suggest a larger animal which may startle a predator.

So of all the Hawk-moths the Elephant Hawk-moth is one of the commonest, no surprise there then, they are said to be attracted to garden light traps, attracted to honeysuckle, fuchsia and similar tubular type flowers. they rest up under their food plants.

Elephant Hawk-moths are on the wing from early May through to September, so theirs still a chance of another making its way to the garden.

The caterpillars are fond of Rosebay willow herb so I guess a good place to look for them , although the caterpillars are said to feed at night, so maybe not that easy to find.

After having a good look at this beauty, I placed it in the middle of  a garden shrub where it stayed all day before disappearing into the night

Hope I don't have to wait so long for another Hawk-moth to find its way to my garden.