Wasps regularly make a nest attached to the gable of the house. Every year the nest grows large and then, over a short period, small birds pick off the wasps in flight and empty the nest completely. Could they be bee-eaters?
Liz McGrath, Ashbourne, Co Meath.
Bee-eaters are exotic brightly coloured birds, natives of southern Europe, that occasionally reach this country. The wasp-eating birds could be flycatchers which are known to feed them to their young. They kill the wasps quickly so that they cannot sting.
During the last week in August this caterpillar-like creature appeared. (photo enclosed). It was about two-and-a-half inches long and was brown with lines on its back. It seemed to have antennae on its head and tail, with a very unusual snout or nose. It was like a very big snail but travelled much faster than a snail.
Joan Callaghan, Newcastlewest, Co Limerick.
It is the caterpillar of an elephant hawkmoth which are found throughout the country. The moth itself is large and bronzy green and pink.
The hawkmoth identified in Eye September 5th was not a pine hawkmoth but a convolvulus hawk-moth.
Edited by Michael Viney, who welcomes observations sent to him at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo. e-mail: viney@anu.ie. Observations sent by E-mail should be accompanied by postal address as location is sometimes important to identification or behaviour.