A mystery of a very creepy kind is lurking in our gardens.

It has left amateur botanists scratching their heads, as supersized creepy-crawlies munch their way through anything from lettuces to fuchsias.

Paul Dunne stumbled across the giant caterpillar as it crawled its way through his garden in Broadstairs.

The odd-looking bug is almost 10cm long - nearly double the size of some similar insects.

But he had never seen the like of it - and was at a loss to identify it.

Mr Dunne, who lives in Belvedere Road, said: "It could have hatched from larvae from a moth or a butterfly that was blown over from Africa, although I can't be sure."

But the mystery seems to have been solved - by our Medway readers.

After the Medway Messenger printed a story on Monday the office was inundated with readers identifying the superbug as an elephant hawk moth caterpillar.

Norman Smith had found the unidentified bug in his garden in Lapwing Road, Grain.

After the story was printed, Karen Lewis, from Sittingbourne, said she had three eating her fuchsias.

She added: "I'm just going to leave them there. It's just nature. I just hope they don't come back."

Judith Short, who also lives in Medway, said: "They are quite common and tend to stay on the ground so it is best to leave them alone if you find them."

The elephant hawk moth caterpillar, whose scientific name is Deilephila elpenor, can be found across Britain and Ireland but also across Europe, Russia, China, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Korea.

It has a 'horn' on its back used to hang from branches and a trunk-like snout which gives the moth its name.

When startled, the caterpillar draws its trunk into itself and, with its four eye-like patches, resembles a snake. It can also 'hisses' and raises itself up if frightened or to scare off birds and other animals.

It tends to eat willowherb and bedstraw but also fuchsias.

Once hatched, the moth can be various shades of dark green, dark brown, pink, yellow, red or purple.

• Caterpillar enthusiasts suggest you do not touch the caterpillar if you should find one as it will most likely be feeding and will then often cocoon and pupate in fallen leaves.

Have you seen this caterpillar - or even the moth - in your gardens? Send in your pictures of your outsized creepy crawly to multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk