Thursday, 10 September 2015

Elephantitis?

Last week I was posting about elephant garlic.  Today I spotted this exotic visitor in our garden:



A bit of internet searching and it is identified as an Elphant Hawk Moth Caterpillar.   Pretty exotic, And the moths themselves are fairly dramatic.  I'll have to keep an eyeout for them.

Also on the large size now is the Runner Bean stand.  Cropping is two weeks in and some of them are whoppers.



Not large yet, but getting that way, the cucurbits. The yellow courgettes have been the star so far, but there are Butternut Squashes, Kabocha, and Sharks Fin Melon on the way.

And just for the record here's the leek patch. One of the areas without weed supressant fabric I'm rather pleased with the results of my hand weeding last weekend.  In the foreground are potatoes, and beyond the leeks are drying bean Canadian Wonder, alongside the leeks a row of peas which will be ready to pick this weekend. The fruit cage behind is just about ready to have the nets off as soon as the last raspberries have been picked.  It's been a great sof fruit year!



Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

6 comments:

  1. Mark Willis11 September 2015 at 00:25

    That caterpillar really is spectacular! And the "eyes" are at its back end too, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mal11 September 2015 at 12:59

      Yes, they have two sets of "eyes". The second pair are at the back of the head area and are just as prominent. You can see them above, but now I'm sorry I didn't get the angle on the second pair.

      Delete
  2. Sue Garrett11 September 2015 at 02:14

    I always think those caterpillars look like elephants trunks, I wonder if that is why the mouth is so called. Our courgettes haven't been very good at all this year we have had enough to keep us going but no gluts which is very unusual.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mal11 September 2015 at 13:18

      Yes I can see the similarity. They also have a long proboscus, although it is withdrawn whenever they are worried. Like here!

      Courgettes. We've only got two yellow ones up and running, but boy are they running!

      Delete
  3. Jo@awholeplotoflove11 September 2015 at 02:56

    Thanks for posting this, my husband spotted one in the garden the other day & popped it in a bucket for me to look at. I thought it was an Elephant Hawk moth caterpillar but wasn't 100% I am now though. It's a shame I haven't spotted any of the moths though but I'm thrilled that they've visited the garden. Your veg plot is looking very productive, I hope your shark's fin melon does well for you, it's something I've always wanted to grow but have struggled to find the seeds x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mal11 September 2015 at 13:25

      I'm looking out for the moths too now, Jo!

      Once you have one Sharks Fin Melon you are never short of seeds. Email me an address and I'll post you some. But be warned, once they get going they take up a LOT of space.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)