We were very excited to find this whopping moth sitting on an eggbox in our trap last week. It is an emperor moth Saturniidae pavonia and although not uncommon, it was very large and beautiful and the first we had ever encountered. The previous day had been unusually hot and sunny and must have encouraged her emergence.

Here she is in all her splendor about 7 cm across.

Stretching to reveal her hind wings, the females wings are all the same colour. The male, though smaller, has brighter orangey hind wings. But that was not the reason we knew she was an Empress… Look what she left behind.

A clutch of shiny Empress eggs and a dilemma — do we rush out and buy a large fish tank (that is what the family assumed we would do) or do we compromise with Mother Nature?

Here is what we did.

In a thicket of blackthorn that emperor caterpillars like to eat above a bramble bush where they will also happily roam, we pinned the eggs to a branch where we hope in 6 weeks, maybe later, if it’s cold, they can hatch.

They start off black and eventually are this bright green with bands of spots which become black and hairy (I think)… We will see… Maybe.