• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: Pale tussock moth caterpillar

Pale tussock moth caterpillar

03 Saturday Sep 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British moth caterpillars, British moths, Calliteara pudibunda, moth larva, Pale tussock moth caterpillar

Is this outrageous, or what? This is the larva of a Pale tussock (Calliteara pudibunda), a moth that is a beautiful creature in itself (you can see the adult on the Butterfly Conservation website) but nothing at all like its incredible caterpillar.

220903 pale tussock moth cat

Like this:

Like Loading...

The young ones

04 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

caterpillar, Drinker moth caterpillar, Large rose sawfly caterpillar, moth larvae, Old lady moth caterpillar, Pale tussock moth caterpillar, Ruby tiger moth caterpillar, Vapourer moth caterpillar

Caterpillar:
Noun. Pronunciation: /ˈkatəpɪlə/
1. The larva of a butterfly or moth, which has a segmented body resembling a worm with three pairs of true legs and several pairs of leg-like appendages.
1.1. (In general use) any insect larva resembling the larvae of caterpillars and moths, especially that of the sawfly. (Oxford Dictionary)

Here are some examples I’ve spotted of these insect larvae.

Cinnabar (1)
Cinnabar (2)

These black-and-yellow striped critters are Cinnabar moth caterpillars (Tyria jacobaeae), chewing away on their favourite food plant, ragwort.

Parsnip Depressaria pastinacella (1)
Parsnip Depressaria pastinacella (2)

The caterpillars of the Parsnip moth (Depressaria pastinacella) build themselves little silken webs within the structure of the umbellifer flowers (in particular Wild parsnip), on which they feed.

1 Drinker Philudoria potatoria
2 Old lady Mormo maura
3 Vapourer Orgyia antiqua
4 Sawfly rose larva CathaysCem
5 Ruby tiger methyr mawr
6 Pale Tussock Calliteara pudibunda

A snapshot of a few others I’ve sighted (from left to right): Drinker moth (Philudoria potatoria), Old lady moth (Momo maura), Vapourer moth (Orgyia antiqua), sawfly larva (possibly of the Large rose sawfly, Arge pagana), Ruby tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa), and, lastly, the wild extravagance of the Pale tussock moth caterpillar (Calliteara pudibunda).

Like this:

Like Loading...

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • A line-up of Wheatears March 30, 2023
  • Nomad bees March 29, 2023
  • Tadpoles March 28, 2023
  • Wheezing in the wind March 27, 2023
  • The Baccy plant March 26, 2023

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • earthstar
    • Join 582 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • earthstar
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d bloggers like this: