Hello friends,
Today I bring you a striking creature that I found yesterday afternoon, right between the pavement and the garden behind my house.
At first, I thought it was a toy belonging to my cousin Natalia, who is currently on holiday at my house. So I instinctively went to pick it up, but when I saw it moving, I stopped for a moment.
I had to look on the internet to find out what it was among the many caterpillars that we can find, but the characteristic of having a kind of eyes on the top made my search very easy.
It is a kind of Vine Caterpillar or also called Silver-banded Sphinx.
What we see as eyes are not really eyes, but two spots that they have to make their predators think that they are another kind of snake-like animal and thus avoid being eaten.
This caterpillar exists in North Africa, Southern Europe and Asia. In my case, this is the first time I have seen it, even though I have had a grape vine behind my house for more than 20 years.
In fact, in a few weeks I will be able to enjoy its grapes if not many more caterpillars come to devour the vine. Although, from what I have read, this type of caterpillar does not usually cause pests and they are isolated individuals as a rule.
Best regards.
