Identification of an insect (?)

Question

This one was found in the woods of northern Poland. It was about 5 cm long and crawling pretty dynamically. For me it seemed a little too big for a butterfly larva.

What is it called?

Related: What kind of creature is this? – theforestecologist Jun 28 '19 at 17:14 — theforestecologist, Jun 28 '19 at 17:14

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 31 '16 at 21:58

13

It's an elephant hawk-moth, Deilephila elpenor. Here is an image from Wikipedia to compare with:

answered Jul 31 '16 at 21:58

picapica

2,039
1
14
23

6

Agreed; that's definitely it. Since OP saw it in Poland I don't know if a (British) 20p will be helpful for scale; for non-UK readers, the coin is 21.4mm in diameter so size is spot-on. – arboviral Jul 31 '16 at 22:05

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 01 '16 at 10:57

-1

I think it is the larva of the sphinx purple butterfly.

Size of the larva is arround 70 mm

answered Aug 01 '16 at 10:57

Black

7
1

I haven't heard it called that before but from the photo it sounds like this is an alternative common name for Deilephila elpenor. Nice photos! – arboviral Aug 01 '16 at 11:47

Identification of an insect (?)

2 Answers2