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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Saturday, October 19, 2013

CARL MARSHALL: Deaths head hawkmoth larvae at Stratford Butterfly Farm.

The Deaths head hawkmoth Acherontia atropos is the largest moth to be regularly found in Britain. Although not truly a native, it is a common migrant from southern Europe. When conditions lead to a large migration, the striking yellow caterpillars can sometimes be encountered in late summer feeding in potato fields.

The adult moths are unusual in several ways: they have the ability to emit a loud squeak when irritated by expelling air from the pharynx. They also have the habit of raiding beehives for honey - a behaviour enabled by their ability to produce a scent mimicking that of the queen bee. Perhaps most strikingly unusual is the skull-like markings on the thorax. This feature has earned this species a negative reputation, and in popular culture it has often been used in connection with evil and the supernatural, most notably in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.  



Although in Britain the larvae are most commonly found on potato Solanum tuberosum, in captivity they will readily accept Privet Ligustrum vulgare. The bright yellow larvae are striking in colouration and also size, with individuals growing as large as 12cm.

Larval food plants:

*Solanaceae
*Verbenceae

*Oleaceae

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