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Please help identify this pest -

marytrvrs2marytrvrs2 Posts: 7
in Problem solving
Found yesterday on Kilmarnock willow, busily eating away... never seen anything like it before! Doesn't appear to have wings, can't even tell which end is which. About 1-1.5 cms in length. Two specimens in photos.
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Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    They change colour as they age.

     


  • marytrvrs2marytrvrs2 Posts: 7
    Good heavens Fire, I think that's it! I'm off to research Puss Moths...Many Thanks.
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    Puss Moth larvae! The adults are beautiful. I would love to have them in my garden! They will not do any permanent damage to your willow, so leave them alone and enjoy them.

    http://ukmoths.org.uk/species/cerura-vinula
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Good Luck Mary. I think they are beautiful too.
  • marytrvrs2marytrvrs2 Posts: 7
    Thank you Alan, and for the link. They are indeed beautiful... we have a pair, so I will put them back where I found them to enjoy the tree.
  • floraltipsfloraltips Posts: 89
    I found this little guy on a wall a few days ago. After googling I thought it might be a puss moth. Can anyone confirm please.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    I just rescued one today that was on the pavement asking to be trodden on. I'd never seen one before, and now look, they're everywhere!  Are they like the 17 year cicada, and synchronise their emergence?
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Looks like the light morph of the peppered moth to me. They have a really interesting evolutionary story if you fancy some research.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • floraltipsfloraltips Posts: 89
    Thanks wild edges. A peppered moth was another option. I just wasn't sure as I had never seen one like this before. Lovely creature. Will have a look around for the details.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    We have quite a lot of those this year too and the other day I was delighted to see a cinnabar moth - my first.   

    Those puss moths are amazing.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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