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Beautiful caterpillar

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  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Tin pot said:
    wild edges said:
    I'm not sure it is a mullein actually. The yellow stripe is wrong. Probably the same genus but a less common species. Can you get any more pics?
    I’ve just tried to find it again but it’s moved on, leaving a brown line on the stem it was on.
    Ok thanks for trying anyway. I've found a few near misses but they seem to be so uncommon that most don't even have common names. This one looks pretty close.


    I'm due to head over to Hay on Wye soon so I'll look out for a good field guide to moths I think. Thanks for sharing the pics anyway.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    wild edges said:
    Tin pot said:
    wild edges said:
    I'm not sure it is a mullein actually. The yellow stripe is wrong. Probably the same genus but a less common species. Can you get any more pics?
    I’ve just tried to find it again but it’s moved on, leaving a brown line on the stem it was on.
    Ok thanks for trying anyway. I've found a few near misses but they seem to be so uncommon that most don't even have common names. This one looks pretty close.


    I'm due to head over to Hay on Wye soon so I'll look out for a good field guide to moths I think. Thanks for sharing the pics anyway.
    By Jove I think you’ve got it!

    A few differences but maybe noting that isn’t normal variation?  The spots are a bit stronger on the one Infound and I didn’t notice any hair but surely this is it?


  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    “Pupation lasts two years”
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucullia_tanaceti

    Surely thats a mistake?

    ukmoths.org don’t have them listed.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Probably either very rare in the UK or it's the wrong ID then. It's a big genus and a few of the species seem to have caterpillars in that colour scheme.

    Sometimes pupation is listed as the captive times if they're hard to study in the wild. The mullein is listed as up to 5 years in captivity. It seems a lot of effort for such a drab moth. After 5 years I'd want something really fancy to emerge.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    It looks like a mullein caterpillar. They a re lovely but! I found some in my garden one year and they decimated my verbascum down to spikes very quickly. They are considered a pest, such a shame. They were also busy stripping a young purple leaved weeping beech.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Ok I might have found another contender. The link below isn't an exact match but google images shows quite a variation in pattern.


    A good match in this link too

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    wild edges said:
    Ok I might have found another contender. The link below isn't an exact match but google images shows quite a variation in pattern.


    A good match in this link too

    And if I said the viola I found it on is swamped with toadflax... :)
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Phew that's got to be it then. Came across that one totally by chance too after barking up the wrong family tree previously.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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