Poplar Hawk-Moth | Laothoe populi EGGS

Although at first glance these magnificent moths could be dismissed as dull and uninteresting, they actually have a fantastic camoflague when resting on the trunks of trees and occur in a variety of shades of greys, reds, browns, even oranges. Caterpillars are not at all challenging to care for - as a child I used to find caterpillars among Willow trees in local woodland rear them myself - I still remember the delight of finding a mating pair on a fence post when I was 10 or 11 and subsequently rearing two hundred chunky caterpillars! Mature caterpillars have charming red dots along the body, and turn a bright orange colour before pupating. You can allow them to pupate freely at the base of the enclosure or provide tissue paper or compost as a substrate.

Difficulty - Easy (1/10)

Host plants - Poplar; Willow; Birch; Aspen; Alder; (Cherry also reported.)

Temperature - Room temp. or outside

Lifecycle - Two broods in spring and summer