Silkmoths and more: Smerinthus caecus

I got these Smerinthus caecus eggs dangerously late in the season, at a moment that the leaves on many deciduous shrubs and trees were already yellowing. But, like other Smerinthus species, caecus feeds on Salix and Populus. Over here, it usually isn't that much of a problem to find good quality willow leaves until mid December. In very mild winters I can even find Salix until the end of January. And because a Smerinthus only needs four to maximum five weeks to grow from an L1 to a final instar caterpillar the risk wasn't that high. Unless ... unless it would suddenly start to freeze harder then only minus one or two at night. It does happen now and then, even though in Belgium the coldest part of the winter is most often from late January to the end of February. In such cases the willows respond by immediately dropping all the remaining leaves and I would have run out of food plants very fast. But, it didn't happen and the last of the caecus caterpillars are now pupating. Like most Smerinthus species they were extremely easy to breed, no challenge at all. The pupae will now overwinter in the fridge. The moths will emerge next year in April/May.