Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Leafy Spurge Hawk Moth

I couldn't believe my luck this afternoon when I went for a walk in a local park. Just after I had decided that it was time to leave, I glanced down and saw three of these amazingly beautiful Leafy Spurge Hawk Moth caterpillars on a Leafy Spurge plant!. Actually, two had this colouring and the third had a lot more green on it. I had seen one of this species a couple of years ago, again by pure chance. This is not my favourite shot of it, but it does show what the head end and underneath are like. Doug, I would love to have popped it into a tiny box to keep for you to photograph, but of course knew I couldn't do that.

I was so surprised when I saw that one of the three Leafy Spurge Hawk Moth caterpillars that I came across yesterday was a different colour. To show my ignorance, are caterpillars either male or female? I'll have to do some research : ). By the way, the end with the "horn" and two white eyes (you can only see one in the photo) is the tail end.

A different angle from my previous photo of this caterpillar. I'm still in awe of its beauty. What a pattern!

By chance, I happened to notice this rather spectacular caterpillar on a Leafy Spurge plant on a recent walk. This moth was introduced from Europe as a biological control for the weed, Leafy Spurge. The moth has been released in Alberta where it is thriving and eating leafy spurge.