Spotted caterpillar - or similar larva

[dmclean2]

Hi Pudding,
Thanks for that site I don't have any books on larvae or caterpillars , so thanks for that
I enjoyed the thread , Interesting
Duncan

[poschiavanus]

Well, I take it all back. This does look a convincing fit. Although perhaps 20 mm might have been overdoing. Ian Smith on Moths UK records it at 10 mm.

Also to support this, I did work through the various birch-eating sawflies and there were no decent fits. I probably responded too much to the appearance of a single eye, when this may just be a blotch on the face; and the suggestion of sets of ridges on each thoracic and abdominal segments. These are both very characteristic of sawflies. Personally I always try & count the prolegs: I've spent far more time searching through photos of larval lepidoptera searching for a sawfly larva than vice versa!

All grist to learning more!

poschiavanus

[Bruce Williams]

Photo taken same day (about 2 hours later), same location. Is this the adult Anthophila fabriciana?

Bruce