Pine hawk moth caterpillar

We've had several pine hawk moths in the trap this year, including a female which laid a batch of eggs. Pete has been raising the caterpillars, which feed on the mature needles of Scot's pine. This diet doesn't appear to be very nutritious, but clearly the caterpillars thrive on it, as most have survived and grown huge, approximately 6cm long. The majority have now pupated but this is the last remaining individual, which was subjected to a rather belated portrait session!

Pine hawk moths are a fairly local species, usually frequenting conifer plantations, shelter belts and wooded heathland. The species has been frequent in southern England for a long time, but recently it has spread northwards, being first recorded in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in the 1990s. It now appears in our trap annually, which suggests that we have a local established population, possibly even using the Scot's pine tree at the bottom of our garden.