Death's head Diary (Week 2)

追加: 2026-06-01

[00:00:02]Once again, I'm holding a pot, but a bigger pot this time because we soon come out of the egg stage that we saw in last week's video.

[00:00:16]And typical for death's-head hawkmoth caterpillars, growth is rapid.

[00:00:47]Well, as you can see, couple of days after I filmed the first video, we have new life in the form of these beautiful little death's-head hawkmoth caterpillars.

[00:01:01]It's astonishing what these are going to grow into just within a few weeks.

[00:01:09]And they will become literally monsters.

[00:01:13]But for now, these pale yellow-colored caterpillars with that distinctive black horn are looking for something to eat after partially eating their eggshells.

[00:01:27]And their diet is this.

[00:01:34]Privet.

[00:01:37]I remember many years ago, it was either the late '70s or early '80s, someone managed to breed death's-head hawkmoth.

[00:01:45]It was something that could never be done.

[00:01:48]And then they also discovered that the larva have a liking for privet, and that pretty much changed the course of breeding deaths at Hogwarts.

[00:01:59]And they've become relatively easy judging by the number of times a year these eggs and lava are available to buy.

[00:02:12]And you can see that this little chap here has already staked his claim to the midrib of that leaf.

[00:02:21]Quite remarkable what that little chap will grow into.

[00:02:27]So we await the other eggs to hatch.

[00:02:31]And this one will go in the container with his brothers and sisters while we wait for the eggs to hatch.

[00:02:43]Wonderful little things.

[00:02:46]We'll have a look at this chap that's in here in a minute.

[00:02:50]But I have lost one lava. It hatched out of the egg and as occasionally happens, just hatched and died.

[00:03:00]And one of the lava is quite slow at growing, so whether that will make it and join the rest of these we'll have to wait and see, but all the others are doing fine and are already changed skin once.

[00:03:19]And they're now second in star.

[00:03:22]Couple are soon to be going into third in star.

[00:03:25]They've not actually started the molt yet, but they're well on the way.

[00:03:30]This one is a nice sized second in star lava and really starting to take form now of a typical hawk moth lava.

[00:03:46]Well, these are containers that I tend to rear most hawk moth caterpillars in. I don't large numbers and I don't have them very often. And I tend to rear them one or two per this kind of container.

[00:04:04]Metal lids and really nicely airtight so the food plant keeps very fresh.

[00:04:11]And privet is a great food plant for keeping fresh anyway.

[00:04:17]Not that it gets the chance to wilt or anything once these caterpillars get larger.

[00:04:23]They have voracious appetites.

[00:04:27]But this is the kind of container that I keep death's-head hawk moth caterpillars in.

[00:04:38]Now you can see our caterpillar now. If I can catch it in the right light, you can see the caterpillar just on the underside of this upper leaf on this little sprig of privet.

[00:04:51]I change the food of these about every 3 days. It just depends on if it does start to show any signs of wilting or whether it gets eaten.

[00:05:02]As these caterpillars grow, they will be moved into larger containers and several of them will be housed together.

[00:05:12]We'll have a little closer look at this second instar death's-head hawk moth caterpillar.

[00:05:19]And there it is.

[00:05:22]They do grow very, very well, these.

[00:05:26]And they're always a joy to rear.

[00:05:32]I think at one time, when I was much younger, you couldn't get hold of these anyway.

[00:05:38]No one had them back in the late '70s and early '80s.

[00:05:45]These were always a dream of something.

[00:05:47]Everyone wanted one cuz they wanted to see them off and they wanted to see the fabulously large caterpillar.

[00:05:54]But you just couldn't get them.

[00:05:56]Unless, I suppose, you were in the know, so to speak.

[00:06:00]And had somebody who was lucky enough to go abroad and acquire some of these and bring them back.

[00:06:08]>> [clears throat] >> There's no markings really of any note on the caterpillar at all.

[00:06:23]But just wait till another couple of weeks' time.

[00:06:30]This one's going to start and have something to eat.

[00:06:35]So they're doing very well.

[00:06:39]And I think it's six that I have, or seven.

[00:06:47]But they're just great things to rear and they are available to buy from online suppliers.

[00:07:05]It's still incredible the amount of growth that this caterpillar is going to put on.

[00:07:21]So a week after I showed you the eggs in the first video, our death's-head hawkmoth is at this stage.

[00:07:34]Second instar.

[00:07:36]I'm growing very, very well, thank you very much.

[00:07:41]It'll be all change in a week's time.