I took the dog and the camera for a walk by the Bridgwater & Taunton canal at North Newton this afternoon. It was very poor photographically but after a fruitless hour I decided to photograph some Woody Nightshade flowers. As I set the camera up I noticed a small hawkmoth larva - a Death's Head, probably 3rd instar. Given its size it probably came from eggs laid by a different female from the one which laid the Westonzoyland egg.

3rd instar Death's Head larva on Woody Nightshade

Finding a wild Death's Head larva was a lifetime ambition! There is a lot of Woody Nightshade around, by the canal and the rivers and in and by the rhynes on the levels, so I will look harder now - although a further hour searching yielded nothing else!