Found this visitor in the flowers in the balcony in the afternoon and able to get some close shots at night. I also never look at a caterpillar that close ! Enjoy and thanks for watching !

ps. it should be a kind of Papilionidae (Swallowtails or Birdwings) but don't exactly know what species. If there is some specialist who can identify it, please let us know. Maybe I should build a shelter for it until it emerges. I will try my best to update.

Yes, that's a Papilionidae, I think. The color and bright blue "eyes" are the telltale signs.

I had almost exactly the same one in one of my flower pots inside my flat years ago. I let it eat all the leaves of the small plant and 2 weeks later a pretty butterfly flew out my window. A fascinating experience, but my camera and skills of using it back then couldn't compare to yours, Harry.

No need to build a nest or anything, it'll be happy as long as they have enough leaves on the plant they're on right now, as their taste in plants is very specific. It'll probably eat most or all of the plant and then form a chrysalis for about ten days till the adult emerges, rests for many hours before flying off to feed and find a mate.

We're expecting photographic updates at least every few days and another Lamma-zine story will be yours, Harry!

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A couple more photos taken in the afternoon and tonight which show the whole biiig faaat caterpillar (it is about 100mm long and widest part is about 20 mm)

A little upate :

After a few days of restless eating, it stops today. The color of the whole body turns a little yellow like a ripen banana. But it also turns less turgid and with wringles, it seems like losing water. I thought its going to find a branch and then make a cacoon but it just craws to another pot and laying at the bottom. So after several hours seeing it laying, I moved it back to the pot with many leaves. Don't know what will happen next.

Don't worry about it for now. From my own experience this will take longer than expected. Is it still moving? I'm asking a butterfly expert for some advice.

But those two large shots are really beautiful and the colour change is quite astounding.

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Just got advice from Lamma's resident butterly/moth expert, Paul Lau in Ok Kwu Wan, author of the great "HK Butterflies" book:



So this means: Leave it be, it's all normal, it'll dig itself under the soil soon to pupate. Don't miss it when it emerges, we expect detailed photos!

I've photographed and published one of these "Hummingbird Hawkmoths" in the Lamma-zine a few weeks back inside the helipad, on Sep 18:

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L-G, thanks a lot for your info. Yesterday, I saw the caterpillar lying at the bottom of one of the pot. After going out for about 3 hours, it disappeared without a trace when I checked again. Then I saw your post about its real identity and it's tendency to dig the soil, I tried to inpect carefully for all the pots. I just don't see any possibility for it to dig in the soil but without leaving any trace. Anyway, I will wait and see if anything will happen after two weeks.