Here’s an intriguing find I made when doing a little leaf-turning during yesterday’s rather damp local meander – a hairy cocoon on willow.

From looking at the yellow and black hairs contained within the silk, I thought perhaps this might have been created by a Pale tussock moth. Fortunately, Andy, one of the moth-ers I follow on Twitter, recognised this cocoon and was able to correct my identification. This was, in fact, created by a Vapourer moth larva (Orgyia antiqua) – below is one I photographed a few years back (it had just shed its skin, the remnants of which can be seen to the left of the caterpillar).

I’ve not yet seen an adult Vapourer but they are a particularly interesting species, as the female is virtually wingless – you can read more and see some images on the UK Moths website. Andy also introduced me to the Lepiform e.V. website, which, though it is in German, can still be searched using a moth’s scientific name and has an excellent and comprehensive range of images for each species, including larval stages, cocoons, pupae, etc.