Caterpillar

[STIG]

Found this little fella thumbing a lift this morning, can anyone identify it 😍

[Jen-in-Wellies]

The Woodland Trust says it's a sycamore moth.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2023/08/british-caterpillars/

[STIG]

Seen just outside Whitchurch in Shropshire 

[Stilllearning]

18 minutes ago, STIG said:

Found this little fella thumbing a lift this morning, can anyone identify it 😍

The detail in that picture is quite remarkable. Lovely.

[cuthound]

Yes it's definitely a Caterpillar. You can tell by the shade of yellow. It shows the family resemblance... 😂

[LadyG]

They feed on ragwort, which is in flower now, so put it on one.

[magnetman]

Ragwort should be pulled out. 

[ditchcrawler]

43 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Ragwort should be pulled out. 

But then you have to dispose of it, its more dangerous wilted than it is growing 

[StephenA]

59 minutes ago, LadyG said:

They feed on ragwort, which is in flower now, so put it on one.

 

According to the website:

 

Foodplant: sycamore, field maple and horse chestnut

 

It's the Cinnabar moth caterpillar  (which looks like it's wearing a rugby shirt) that eats ragwort

[tree monkey]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

Ragwort should be pulled out. 

Ragwort is an important food plant for the cinnabar moth and a good source of nectar, it should only be controlled where grazing animals might encounter it

 

21 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But then you have to dispose of it, its more dangerous wilted than it is growing 

Only if you eat it.

 

It is more palatable to horses and other grazing animals when dried out, but it's not inherently more dangerous 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

2 hours ago, magnetman said:

Ragwort should be pulled out. 

 

1 hour ago, StephenA said:

It's the Cinnabar moth caterpillar  (which looks like it's wearing a rugby shirt) that eats ragwort

Feed it to a rugby team of cinnabar moth caterpillars instead.

[Stroudwater1]

Found this on a drive the other day, it was around 3 or 4 inches long. I think it’s a privet hawk moth caterpillar, as thick as my middle finger. 

 

but not all caterpillars are good. Our box bushes has been completely chomped by invasive box tree moth caterpillars- I don’t think it’s going to recover sadly ☹️ they are like cabbage whites but far worse. Only recently came into the country too. 

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Stroudwater1