Death's-head Hawkmoth Caterpillar.

[Gottshotz]

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A very large caterpillar, think of your index finger as a guide, gives rise to an equally large and impressive Hawkmoth, with a skull-like marking on its thorax. The moth can squeak when alarmed and was traditionally seen as an omen of death. The moth was even rumoured to be a tormentor of the notoriously unstable King George lll who was thrown into one of his infamous bouts of "madness" when 2 of these large moths were discovered in his bedroom in his residence in Kew, London in 1801. A migrant visitor to the UK this one was taken in Spain with a D60 and 18-55mm @ 26mm., f7.1 ISO 200, 1/60 Sec., handheld.

 

[Tadzio]

very beautiful capture David

 

[Gottshotz]

very beautiful capture David

Thanks Tadzio, hard to miss this monster sitting in the bushes.

 

[gordon_g]

Very Nice love the color of him/her.

 

[Gottshotz]

Very Nice love the color of him/her.

Yeh Gordon pretty stunning---not sure these days of being PC how you would describe its gender, possibly sexless ?

 

[Icarus]

Gorgeous!!!!

 

[Gottshotz]

Gorgeous!!!!

Thanks Icarus, pretty difficult to miss, if its in the vicinity !

 

[Yezdi]

Awesome shot David...

 

[Cristobal]

Awesome capture and caterpillar!

 

[DallasP]

Cool hand!

 

[Gottshotz]

Awesome shot David...

Thanks Yezdi --- big and beautiful.

 

[Gottshotz]

Awesome capture and caterpillar!

Thanks Cristobal --- its the biggest caterpillar I've ever seen !

 

[Gottshotz]

Cool hand!

Thanks DallasP, --- it was certainly an impressive looking caterpillar, would have loved to see the Hawkmoth it became some months later !

 

[ssheipel]

Brilliant creature! Nice shot.

 

[Gottshotz]

Brilliant creature! Nice shot.

Thanks Steven , it was certainly a "" whopper" of a caterpillar and stuck out like a sore thumb --- black and yellow in insects usually mean "bad to eat" for birds, so possibly this is why it wasn't picked off by a passing predator.

 

[frdjohns]

Wonderful colors on this little fellow.

 

[Gottshotz]

Wonderful colors on this little fellow.

Yes indeed Fred--almost looks freshly painted, they're so vivid.

 

[Robin]

View attachment 10724

A very large caterpillar, think of your index finger as a guide, gives rise to an equally large and impressive Hawkmoth, with a skull-like marking on its thorax. The moth can squeak when alarmed and was traditionally seen as an omen of death. The moth was even rumoured to be a tormentor of the notoriously unstable King George lll who was thrown into one of his infamous bouts of "madness" when 2 of these large moths were discovered in his bedroom in his residence in Kew, London in 1801. A migrant visitor to the UK this one was taken in Spain with a D60 and 18-55mm @ 26mm., f7.1 ISO 200, 1/60 Sec., handheld.

Fabulous insect!

 

[Gottshotz]

Fabulous insect!

Agreed Robin, though I still hope to get a shot of the adult insect showing its death's head skull marking !

 

[Robin]

I had the chance once when I had just began taking macro.... fluffed it .