Giant hawkmoth caterpillars found in Welsh garden

Mr Williams found three of the same caterpillars "devouring" a bush in his garden

A couple in Wales were shocked when they saw three giant caterpillars munching away on their shrubs!

The couple were a little taken aback at first by the size of the creatures but soon discovered what they were - death's-head hawkmoth caterpillars.

They aren't usually spotted in the UK so it came as a bit of a surprise to Ian Williams and his wife Sharon.

She was the first to spot the insects while tending to the bushes in their garden and the couple shared some pictures on social media hoping to find out what they were.

After learning which insect has taken up residence in garden, Ian scoured the bushes hoping to find them again but all the caterpillars seemed to have left.

Ian Williams found the death's-head hawkmoth caterpillar in his garden

Hawkmoths aren't the rarest caterpillars or moths, but are still not found very often.

Dr Sarah Christofides, of Cardiff University's school of biosciences said the discovery was exciting, adding: "I'd be really, really excited, really pleased if I found one."

"Generally hawkmoths are very big moths - and they're not as common as perhaps some of the smaller ones you get," she said

"If you look at an adult death's-head hawkmoth you'd see what an incredibly beautiful animal it is."

The impressive caterpillars have now disappeared from the couple's garden

Dr Arthur Morris, research associate at Cardiff University explained that they are usually found in the Mediterranean, southern European and northern Africa - but because of the hot dry weather, they have popped up in Wales!

"Hawkmoths tend to produce very large caterpillars, so when you find them that it's pretty obvious that you'd got something quite unusual."