Sleepy caterpillars
At the end of September, keep your eyes peeled for large caterpillars searching for somewhere to spend the winter. This privet hawk-moth caterpillar crawled into the visitor centre earlier in the month looking for the perfect place to bury itself so it can turn into a pupa.
Privet hawk-moths are the largest resident species, the adults fly at night in June/July, they have a wingspan of up to 12cm and have a pink and black striped body. The caterpillars have been feeding up over the summer months from July onwards and are now looking to settled down ready for winter.
