This marker on the Cambridge Butterfly Trail is at Sheep’s Green and Coe Fen local nature reserve – see the map above.

The Poplar hawk-moth is one of Britain’s largest and most eye-catching moths, boasting a wingspan of 65 to 90mm and often mistaken for a floating dead leaf due to its curved body and uniquely forward-folded hindwings.

Flying between May and July (with a partial second brood in the south around August and September), adults are nocturnal and attracted to light. They lack a functional proboscis and do not feed.

When disturbed, they flash a startling reddish-brown patch on their hindwings, a clever startle display to confuse predators.

The green caterpillars, sporting a characteristic ‘horn’ at the tail, feed on poplar, aspen and various willows before pupating underground for winter.

Widespread across woodland, parklands, fens and gardens, they’re a familiar yet spectacular highlight of UK moth diversity.

For more information, please visit Butterfly Conservation’s page on this species – Poplar hawk-moth.