A stunned Midlothian resident has shared a strange video of a creepy crawly passing through his back garden.
Jim Matson, from Dalkeith, spotted the unsettling beastie when looking at the astroturf at the rear of his home on the morning of Saturday August 13. He filmed the bug crossing the turf and shared the footage online.
He speculated that the insect could have been a 'moth caterpillar'.
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Alongside with the footage, he wrote: “I saw this beastie racing across my plastic lawn this morning. A moth caterpillar I think.”
Jim was amazed to discover, through the help of another Facebook user, that the creature was in fact an Elephant Hawk-Moth caterpillar. The critters are understood to have been given their name due to resembling an elephant’s tusk.
A blog by the Woodland Trust gives an explanation on the bugs.
It reads: “The caterpillars, or larvae, can grow to the length and thickness of a large thumb. They are usually dark brown and trunk-like, hence their name, but bright green forms are not uncommon.
"Look for their large eye spots and spiked tail.When they’ve had their fill of leaves and grown to full size, their next task is to look for a safe place to pupate (turn into a moth).
"To do this, they need to come down from their leafy larders and search for leaf litter to hide in. This is when they become most noticeable.
"They’re often encountered by gardeners in late summer while sunbathing or ambling about. They can put on quite a turn of speed, undulating across paths, lawns and bare ground.
“When they’ve found the right spot, they’ll bury themselves beneath dry leaves and develop a hard casing, or chrysalis, in which they’ll undergo the near-magical transformation over winter from caterpillar to moth.”
After their transformation, the creepy. slimy looking logs turn into something absolutely beautiful. Woodland Trust chiefs stress that people should not be alarmed by the bright colours and appearance as they are not poisonous and cannot cause harm to humans or pets.
The blog continued: “The adult moths emerge at night between May and July. They can be up to six cm across from wing tip to wing tip and are bright pink and olive green.
“They feed on the nectar of night-scented flowers such as honeysuckle and lay their eggs on rosebay willowherb, bedstraws and fuschias.
“Like all hawk-moths, they’re strong fliers. Their ability to beat their wings quickly and hover into position when feeding has earned them the ‘hawk’ part of their name.”
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