1 pale green & 1 black/yellow caterpillars for ID

[Geoff F]

Both S. Devon.

The pale greenish one (last Sunday) was from from the edge of old oak woods. I am thinking about an early stage Large Skipper. The size fits but I'm not over sure about this for an ID.

So far I haven't found anything to match the black & yellow caterpillar, seen today. Just inland from the coast path beside an overgrown track amongst a mixture of rough vegetation. Blackthorn, gorse, rough grass, nettles, brambles, etc. It was on an ivy leaf.

Any help appreciated.

[Dogghound]

The left (Green) one is a Sawfly larvae.

The right one is a Drinker moth.

[Geoff F]

Thanks, that all makes sense now.

The Drinker is in my book but it shows a rather drab specimen compared with my brightly coloured version so I totally overlooked it.

I've still got a slightly different sawfly larvae from the same location in my 'in tray'. It seems that identifing them is a rather specialist subject.

[Dogghound]

Yes this drinker is pre-hibernation a very looking creature to the one that re-emerges in the spring (most commonly seen so most often the form in books).

Sawfly larvae are not as well covered Im sure someone may know, I only know the common or distinctive ones.