The death’s-head hawkmoth caterpillar Credit: Emma Giffard
Two extremely rare caterpillars which will turn into moths immortalised in the movie Silence of the Lambs have been unearthed in a Somerset back garden.
Emma Giffard dug up two death’s-head hawkmoths whilst tending to potatoes in her garden in Westbury-sub-Mendip, near Cheddar. The insect is so named because of the skull-like pattern on its back.
The bat-sized moth is rare in Britain - normally being found in southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It famously featured on promotional posters for the 1991 horror Silence of the Lambs.
The moths were immortalised on the Silence of the Lambs poster Credit: The Silence of the Lambs
Emma has been witness now to both caterpillars forming their pupae. When the moths emerge, they can be with a wingspan as wide as 13cm (over 5 inches).
Anne Halpin, landscape ecologist at the Somerset Wildlife Trust said:
The caterpillars have both recently begun forming their pupae. Credit: Emma Giffard
