cinnabar moth caterpillar look alike

[cicelythepotter]

last year i was working in a woodland in east sussex. the nearest trees were holly, scots pine, rhodedendron, oak and what i believe is alder buckthorn or common buckthorn. there is also beech and bracken though thes-were further away.

we found a really odd caterpillar, it was almost exactly like a cinnabar moth caterpillar, bold bands of black and yellow, about 25-30 mm long except that it had widley spaced black spines or hairs along the sides of its body, pointing at a slightly upward angle. The hairs were wider at the tip, slighly curved and club shaped, each one about 4-5 mm long and i think one growing out of each side of each body segment.

any ideas what it is? the only thing i can find that is similar is the cinnabar moth catrepillar, but it lacks the hairs or fins or whatever they are.

[Neil Jones]

Originally Posted by cicelythepotter

last year i was working in a woodland in east sussex. the nearest trees were holly, scots pine, rhodedendron, oak and what i believe is alder buckthorn or common buckthorn. there is also beech and bracken though thes-were further away.

we found a really odd caterpillar, it was almost exactly like a cinnabar moth caterpillar, bold bands of black and yellow, about 25-30 mm long except that it had widley spaced black spines or hairs along the sides of its body, pointing at a slightly upward angle. The hairs were wider at the tip, slighly curved and club shaped, each one about 4-5 mm long and i think one growing out of each side of each body segment.

any ideas what it is? the only thing i can find that is similar is the cinnabar moth catrepillar, but it lacks the hairs or fins or whatever they are.

This sound like it might be the caterpillar of the Alder Moth
see this page for a picture
QUODITCH MOTHS - Page 4 - caterpillars

[cicelythepotter]

hi,

i had a look at the picture, i think thats the one! its been annoying me for ages! presumably it doesnt live just on alder? there is alder on the site where i found it, but not that particular bit.

can you recommend a good book for moths/butterflies and their caterpillars/larvae? the one i have is rubbish.

thankyou

[earthdragon64]

Originally Posted by cicelythepotter

hi,

can you recommend a good book for moths/butterflies and their caterpillars/larvae? the one i have is rubbish.

thankyou

The Colour Identification Guide to Caterpillars of the British Isles by Jim Porter, is probably about the best out there for butterfly and macro moth caterpillars. However, it doesn't show each instar for every species, usually just one instar, sometimes two.

The UKleps website generally has photos of several instars per species, plus eggs and pupae, as well as adults, but the photos are arranged by species. You can look through the species alphabetically by common name, common name in taxonomic order, or scientific name in family groups. I find this a useful website in conjunction with the Porter book.

Another useful website is UK Moths, which has quite a few caterpillar pictures of both macro and micro moths.

Regards, Audrey.