A reader just sent us a photo of familiar caterpillar and asked us to identify it. She said they found it underneath some Arum Lilies, and described it as looking like a snake. The creature does indeed resemble a snake. It is dark brown with tan stripes and two black spots on its head that look like eyes.

This is an Elephant Hawk-Moth Caterpillar! It gets its name from its trunk-like snout. When these caterpillars get frightened, they draw their trunk into their body. This positioning resembles a snake and is used to scare off predators. This species is known for having superb night vision and is distributed throughout Europe, Russia, China, and some parts of British Columbia.

In summary, our reader found a caterpillar that we identified as the larva of an elephant hawk moth.

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