Thursday 28 August 2014

The caterpillar from Wordless Wednesday

Thanks to a comment from Countryside Tales, we have an explanation as to what this little chap actually is...and will become.




Looks like a fox moth caterpillar to me. They remain as caterpillars through the winter, feeding until September before hibernating till spring. They're heath and coastal moths. Here's a link if you're interested in seeing the adult:

 http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1999

 (if that doesn't work, go to ukmoths.org and type in fox moth. CT :-)

Thanks Countryside Tales

 

10 comments:

robin cox walsh said...

You learn something new every day! Thanks!

Christine said...

a moth! I thought this caterpillar looked a bit different.

Eileen H said...

Fascinating, but I absolutely hate moths :)
I had no idea what it was !

ann @ studiohyde said...

Amazing isn't it :-)

ann @ studiohyde said...

I know, just what I thought :-)

ann @ studiohyde said...

I'm with you there Eileen. Butterflies okay with me, but somehow moths freak me out. Having said that I quite like the look of them at this caterpillar stage.

Bronson Hill Arts said...

Do they supposedly predict your winter weather like our woolly caterpillars do? Not overly accurate though: they predicted a mild winter last year and it was a brutally long one in New York state.

That said, I do love the fuzziness of them!

-Barb

ann @ studiohyde said...

I've not heard of them predicting the weather here Barb, but anything is likely. I do know when there are a lot of berries on the holly trees, it means a bad Winter - it's looked upon that the berries are there ready to feed the birds during a time when their food won't be so easily available....(and that prediction has been right sometimes.)

Judy said...

Amazing creature! Nice to learn a bit more about him/her!

ann @ studiohyde said...

I agree, it is good to know a bit about them. So pleased CT added her comment explaining them :-)