Death. It sounds so final. The end. Its in our make up to be a bit apprehensive about it, the world has little understanding of what happens after, and fear and confusion are synonymous with it. So if someone mentions a Death's Head Hawk Moth, one would be forgiven for assuming it's a dangerous, slayer of humans! But no, it's not. Its a moth. A moth. No danger there I'm afraid.
It's not a common moth out here, but this morning I found a caterpillar sitting on top of a plant, soaking up the sun, hiding from all the birds as best it could.
A very pretty caterpillar, this poor moth unfortunately doesn't do the butterfly thing and become prettier after metamorphosis, as you'll see from the picture below. You'll also see where it gets the name from- the "death's head" on the back of the thorax. Made famous in Silence of the Lambs, its quite easily recognisable.
So if you hear about the Death's Head Hawk Moth, you'll know who it is! Just watch out for Hannibal!