Privet Hawk Moth

The Privet Hawk moth (scientific name: Psilogramma menephron) was a mystery for me until the chrysalis hatched. I knew it was some type of hawk moth, but I didn't know exactly which species it was by just looking at the caterpillar. So, I waited for a month until the moth hatched.

Caterpillars

I spotted black droppings near my Parijaat plant, which meant that there were caterpillars somewhere. But I didn't find any. After about a week, I spotted a caterpillar. It was yellow, long, slender, and had a spike or a thorn kind of tail on its rear end. Since It was stuck to the leaf vein, it was not easy to notice. On searching the plant carefully, I found two more caterpillars. 

Hawk moth caterpillar in its early stage.

I didn't get the chance to see the eggs, but the excitement of watching another life cycle from my balcony made me forget about it. 

I watched the caterpillar's growth closely for the next few weeks. It's head got bigger first, and then the rest of the body. From light yellow, it turned green and developed a distinct pattern on its sides. Before the final instar, it sat on the leaf for 2 days and shed the skin of its head to get light white stripes. The caterpillar had a firm grip compared to other caterpillars I have seen so far. 

Since it was the dry season, my Parijaat plant was shedding leaves. I had to get leaves from a Parijaat plant near the basketball court. One morning, I couldn't find it on the leaves, nor anywhere in my balcony. In the afternoon, it crawled out of the gaps between the pots. It had turned purple. I knew it was searching for the perfect soil to dig in and make a cocoon, so I put it in a pot where it dug in about two inches into the soil.

After two days, I dug the soil to check if it had shed the skin and made the chrysalis. In the first few days of the chrysalis, the outer layer is very delicate, and it can easily get punctured. So I waited for two more weeks. After two weeks, I dug the soil and carefully transferred the chrysalis into a shell filled with mud to observe it hatching. 

On the day before it hatched, its wings portion of the chrysalis turned black(as shown below)

Moth stage

Finally, the moment arrived. It crawled out of the chrysalis and pumped its wings. The species and its colors were revealed.

On the following night, it released pheromones to attract the other sex. Next morning- 

And the cycle repeats <3...