A caterpillar

[lisa c]

Hello there,
I am not sure if i am in the right forum so please accept my apologies if i am in the wrong one. I just wanted to ask people's advice really if possible, last Friday i found a caterpillar in my iceberg lettuce.
It is a brownish one with little yellowy sort of diamond shapes running down the length on either side of it's body, with little dark spots on every segment of it's body, also with little hairs coming off it at set areas too.
It has a little black head with a pale collar of colour beneath it. I have tried to identify it but with no luck so far so i wondered if anybody recognised the type?
I didn't want to put it in the garden if the cold would kill it but i also don't want to keep it in the house if it will harm or kill it either? But because i don't know what it eats, or where it's from originally (maybe it was abroad as it was in a supermarket?), i'm worried about harming it. It was eating alot of lettuce which i put in for it but in the last couple of days it's stopped eating, so i don't know if it's normal or not-maybe it's going to hibernate?
You can tell my ignorance in these matters and i'm sorry, i wish i knew more about them, but any advice you could give i would be so grateful, thankyou Lisa

[Dogghound]

Can you get a photo? It may be about to pupate. They often stop feeding then discharge all faeces prior to this. Has it become sluggish and bulky?

[lisa c]

Hi Dogghound,
Thankyou for your reply, i must admit i am totally in the dark with all this! I will get a photo as soon as i can work out how to do it, but i am not that sure how to at the moment but i will try and get one up soon.
It sounds perhaps that you may be right about the pupate? Because a couple of days ago it it was doing loads of faeces in the container and since i think Tuesday it hasn't eaten anything or been to the toilet either. Does that sound normal?
I really want to do right by this little thing and i don't want to make it suffer in any way if possible. Can you tell me if caterpillars normally hibernate, and if it does pupate (is this the same as hibenate?), should i just leave it alone and let it be in the house until it's ready to come out again?
I am an animal lover and know lots about animals but i have to admit to knowing very little about caterpillars etc so please excuse my ignorance!
Thankyou again for your time Lisa

[Dogghound]

They dont hibernate in the true sense but can become very dormant when cold. Pupation is when they turn into a chrysalis, then emerge as a moth. It sounds like this is whats happening. Although knowing the species would help, as different species have different biology.