Two Hawk-moths

Elephant Hawk-moth, Deilephila elpenor.  Crowborough, 14 June 2017.

I've had two hawk-moths in my Crowborough light trap so far.  Not the biggest of the English species, but still rather spectacular.  This Elephant Hawk-moth has a wingspan of up to 6 cm. and is probably the most colourful of our moth species.  Its colour scheme lacks taste, though.

Before the days of light traps, moths were known as much or more from their caterpillars as from their adult forms.  The caterpillar of this hawk-moth has an extendable head that looks rather like a snout or even an elephant's trunk, hence the English name; and also, the species name elpenor, which comes from one of Odysseus' companions who was turned into a pig by Circe.

Poplar Hawk-moth, Laothoe populi. Crowborough, 21 June 2017.

The Poplar Hawkmoth is even bigger, with a wingspan of up to 9 cm, and it's fun to take photos that make it look like Mothra.  They are quite docile and can be held in the hand (but they have hooks on their feet so might not be easy to dislodge from their preferred position). 

Poplar Hawk-moth, Laothoe populi. Crowborough, 26 June 2017.

Here is one on an egg box.  The wing shape is quite distinctive and there's nomistaking it for any other species.  The colouring is much more subtle than that of the Elephant Hawk-moth. 

I have had Pine, Lime and Privet Hawk-moths in my Hayes garden trap, and Small Elephant Hawk-moths at West Wickham, so maybe I'll see some more Hawk-moths here too.

Their family name is Sphingidae, from the word Sphinx.  I thought that derived from the Greek for "strangler," but according to Wiktionary it might instead come from Egyptian for "living image," which sounds more complimentary, not to say reverent.