For the love of all that is good and natural, PLEASE tell me what this is!

[sorrythisnameistaken]

NC just in case! Hope picture uploads...

What the fuck is it??? We thought the cat had done a shit at first but... it's got eyes... and a mouth...

It was on the patio this morning but it's now in the bushes and I need to know a) what it is and b) whether it is harmful to cats or life in general. Suffice to say, I'm never going in the garden again!

Please please please tell me what it is! PLEASE?!

I can kind of see the cuteness, but looking at it for too long is slightly freaking me out. It does look like a shit, imagine thinking it’s a shit and seeing that face looking at you. Creepy little fucker.

The picture of what it turns into is nice though.

Ok, now I’ve just read that they aren’t it’s eyes but it’s arse?

DEAR LORD.

Aww....look at that little face, it’s smiling 🙂

They are amazing I'd be really happy to see one. Its a caterpillar now but it will be a long time before it becomes a moth! If it survives it will hatch around May time into a Moth :) If you live in the UK they are more common around Northumberland.

Once its ready to pupate it will take a few days to do so if it's disturbed during that time it can be fatal if it survives and all is well it will take over 7-8 months to be a moth! They hatch and are often unable to fly as their wings are so small in comparison to their body they have to wait for their body to pump blood to their wings so they grow to the right size before they can take flight. Beautiful as a moth.

We have hatched loads of different types of moths but this is a rarer one to see.

Tiger Moth we had a pair of these in our house the other day - they were stunning and I can’t believe I had never seen one before.

We had one in our garden a few years ago. It was about 6 inches long. I had no idea until then that there's was such a thing as this! I've never seen an actual hawk moth though. They look beautiful.

We had a privet hawk moth in our house a few years back, absolutely stunning.

There are many stunningly beautiful moths. We rarely see them as they're nocturnal.

I'm sure nature knows what it's doing, but any creature that would think that 'face' is a real snakes face has got to be a bit thick, it looks like a cartoon caterpillar face; cute but hardly scary.

Been a lot of beautiful butterflies and moths around this year, had a huge colourful one flying in and out of my house the other day.

Yesterday dog was jumping around something by the open back door. Thank god she drew my attention to it, I don't think I have ever seen such an enormous spider and it looked as if it was about to go into the house.

I removed it to a bush several yards away from my garden. I'm sorry, but sometimes nature just isn't pretty.

Aww, we had one of these in the garden last month, very cute!

I would be terrified if I saw that, but then I’m terrified of pretty much anything insecty except bees!

If this "face" is its bum... then is it talking out of its arse?

that is beautiful...just adorable

You lucky thing! I love a hawkmoth and the 'pillars are lovely.

Banterlope's picture is a Weta, very rare giant cricket from New Zealand, awesome hey?!!

Can someone answer why moths go like ash when they are squashed? I don’t squash them when alive but they seem to stay in our bathroom a lot and I find their dead bodies and go to wipe them, they leave like an ash mark behind. Why is that?

They're shedding tiny scales

www.sciencefocus.com/qa/whats-powder-moths-wings

The ash/dust is made of very small scales on their wings.

But...but.. it's adorable!

Probably as well that you NC’ed, OP.

mum freaks after finding THIS terrifying creature on her patio - The Sun

Ah well, if there are a lot of them about this year that will probably serve as a good public information story and stop a few of these weird but wonderful creatures from being squished.

Ah, Thanks for answering about the ash thing. I’ve alwyas wondered but never actually thought to look it up.

@easytobuild do you have any tips on raising moths? We have gained some ingrailed clay caterpillars and the dc want to raise them. We have the food plants and soil in a small glass tank will that be enough?

I thought moths this fucking size were only found in Australia? Where am I safe!?

I saw a green one in Sainsbury's car park yesterday, I felt obliged to move it to safety (even though it was terrifying)