A welcome visitor flew in this evening, a large Elephant Hawk Moth (Deilephila elpenor), man, was it beautiful. The Elephant Hawk Moth feeds at night on nectar rich plants like Honeysuckle, which we have here in the garden. With its hairy khaki (on top) swede like head and body, with its striking pink markings and its matching khaki delta wings also fringed with pink, its under wings and lower body too are striking pink and its legs are white; it really is a wonderful and exciting thing to see. Big too; its wing span is about 70mm. I've often wondered why so many nocturnal moths have developed such spectacular colouring and markings: I'm sure there's a reason, though I don't know it. A really lovely thing to see, nature at her best.
