Scary!

A humid start today, clearing slightly with some sun and cloud.

On my return from our early morning walk, I spotted this chap on the outside terrace.   Never seen a Moth that big - it must have been about 2 inches long on it's body.   It was alive but it must have been resting as it did not move.   I took some photos with my phone and promptly took Holly inside and grabbed the camera.   Not as good a picture as I had hoped but still....

Anyway, having checked the internet it is a Deaths Head Hawkmoth - possibly the Lesser DHH.   It apparently raids bees nests and eats the honey, blending in with it's markings and odour.   As a defence mechanism it makes a high pitched noise as in screaming, which made our forebears think of them as evil because of the markings and noise. they make.

That Wikipedia is really useful - whatever did we do without it?