Checking the contents,I notice a pair of large,green moth eggs....
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An examination of the catch from the previous night reveals that there can be only one culprit; the large,female,poplar hawk moth. I check my reference books and they confirm that these are a 'reasonably easy' species to raise and so I decide to save the eggs for observation.
Within a few days the caterpillars were already visible through the eggs...
I prepared a suitable home for them and collected lots of poplar ready for their emergence and then....waited...
As soon as the tiny caterpillars emerged,they began to have their first feed by eating the whole of the eggshell...
I guess at this stage,they were around 3mm long
When this was done,they began to wander in search of the food plant that would sustain them through to pupating. I made sure they climbed on to the poplar leaves and then photographed them once more...
By just seven days following my discovery of the eggs,they had already moulted for the first time...
And now look...only 2 weeks since I found the eggs-talk about a Cinderella moment!
This photo (above) was taken this morning-the 4th July 2013 and what a change there has been.
I am now hoping to be able to continue caring for these until and beyond pupating so that I can then complete the life-cycle by photographing the moths emerging next year.
Aside from the pure enjoyment of watching these creatures, there is so much knowledge to be gained from observing natural behaviour in a controlled environment. It is something that would be impossible to do in the wild and I now feel I know so much more about these fascinating critters.
I hope you have shared in both my enthusiasm for the subject and the joy of seeing what I saw?
Until the next time then...
