I have been rearing five death's head caterpillars with the intention of breeding the adults, all five are now in their pupal stage of metamorphosis, and one decided to make the transformation at the surface of the soil which meant I could get a series of photos of something I had never seen before...
The caterpillars themselves feed like there's no tomorrow, growing from 3mm hatchlings to 120mm monsters over the course of 4 or 5 weeks, in which time their colours and texture also changes. I was using a mix of privet and buddleia as the foodplant.
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| Eggs - laid singly on the stems or underside of leaves, around 1mm across. |
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| Hatchling caterpillars are translucent before beginning to feed and fatten up, shedding their skin as they grow. |
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| The characteristic spiny tail horn can be seen once the caterpillars are around 40mm long.  The caterpillar finds a suitable spot below ground in soft soil (or in captivity - in a separate tub!) where it forms a pupal chamber - an oval space in which to shed it's larval skin one last time.
The transformation from caterpillar to pupa............
           
For around 4 weeks the pupae will remain underground until the adult moths are ready to emerge....
....For now, here's one from a group I reared last year:
Back in July I illustrated Acherontia atropos, with limited edition prints still available,
as well as some older Death's head based illustrations which can be seen on my website or facebook art page.
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