Hunting the Sphinx ligustri

Cherry

By Ed Crane

Sun, 30 Apr 2023
  • 999 reads
12 comments
 

On the walk home you carefully note each hedge lining the front gardens of the bungalows along Bowford Avenue. The green ones are most likely to hold your prize – unkempt specimens or those due for the shears. Scanning the ground you see pea-size patterned tubes like tiny black grenades. You’ve waited weeks for this. Pushing one with the toe of you shoe testing its freshness, it flattens into a miniscule wet pat – you know it’s there. You hope it’s not out of reach. You cannot see it. There’s no time to linger. Nan’ll have lunch ready. Cold lamb slices between thick bread.

During afternoon classes you caress the empty Dinky Toy box in your bag. School’s out, and soon you’re in front of 24 Bowford Avenue hoping the residents are at work. Tracking a vertical line from the most recent pat you look deep inside the green shrub. Seeing the flash of lime green you reach in. It forms its defensive boxing glove like stance. Gently prising each sticky foot from its branch you admire the plump animal’s diagonal purple and white stripes and shiny black tail-horn before slipping it into the box ready to start your collection.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx_ligustri#/media/File:Sphinx_ligustr...

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Comments

Submitted by lenchenelf on

Walking home from primary school with my sisterfriend, peering through over grown privet hedges around St Gabriels abandoned chapel, looking for the tell tale tracery of white meandering lines on a leaf, which when split, would reveal wee maggoty creatures.

Your submission is a little piece of joy, well remembered and constructed.

Best

Lena  xxx

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

I never found out what they grew into. Do you remember Cockoo spit? Inside was a young frog hopper.

I had quite a collection of privet hawk caterpillers one time. I even managed to get one to pupate and hatch into a moth the following spring.

I wanted to be a naturalist or an entomolgist but eventually I chose to study chemistry (the biology teacher wasn't very inspiring I guess)

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I'm not sure I ever did this as a child, but now I feel I've made up for that - thank you Ed!

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

My beast friend and I studied the ants in our garden, fed earwigs to spiders, and tried to find several species of hawk moth.

My dream was to find a Deaths Head Hawk caterpiller, (nearly six inces long; the biggest moth and caterpiller found in the UK). but they were quite rare. The closest I ever got to seeing a live one was watching Silence of the Lambs :-)

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I think I found two of those!!! They are ENORMOUS aren't they? Once when my sons were little, and then once quite recently. I have a pic somewhere on my phone - will go and look for it

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

 

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I've found the pic and it's actually an elephant hawk moth - sorry - got it wrong! I wish I could add the pic here

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

The moth has very beautiful colouring all pinky. The caterpiller is really interesting with its long neck type thing which looks like an elephant trunk, which of course is how it got its name

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

So are the tubes the shed skins of the caterpillars? I never did such detective work as a child, my education lacked something on the practical nature instruction it seems, though we were well taught to look out for flowers and learn their names, and birds too!

Thank you for this piece. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

I tried to send you a link but it's too long. Google Privet Hawk droppoings and you'll see what I mean.

I guess our teachers taught the same stuff, but I was always fascinated by insects in particular, ants, beetles, Moths/Butterflies ect. When I wasn't out playing with friends I'd be in the garden looking for ants and caterpillers. 

I had a collection of Observer books - Moth and Butterflies, Insects, and (Ha ha) Cars of course!

Ladybird books too remember them?

I believe professional entomologists spread sheets under bushes and trees to catch the droppings to see what is living in them. 

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Oh, that's so interesting! I did google the droppings. The privet hawk moth does look rather like the elephant hawk moth, which I have seen, doesn't it? But I'd never heard of looking out for the droppings! And yes, we had Observer books, but probably not 'Insects'. I think Ladybird books were probably more with my children.

Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on