Moth Caterpillar?

[AndyC]

Can someone put a name to this beastie, I've had a look through the Gallery and can't find it. Picture taken on open moorland in Sutherland in early May. It was about 3inches long (I don't do metric!)
Cheers

Andy

[Fourwings]

Given that you photographed this in May and it was 3 inches long I'd have to say that it is most likely to be a Drinker Moth Euthrix potatoria the image doesn't look quite right for this species but I've found by experience that you can dramatically alter the look of things by changing the angle, lighting etc.....

[Oscar2006]

I agree with Fourwings. See the following link:

UKMoths - The Drinker Euthrix potatoria

this is a great site for getting an identification of moths & larvae . You may need to use the thumbnail images and trawl through them that way until you become familiar with the families.

[AndyC]

Cheers. That was quick
I see they are said to be "fairly common in the southern half of Britain" so are they very rare in Northern Scotland or just "not fairly common"

Andy

[Fourwings]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Cheers. That was quick
I see they are said to be "fairly common in the southern half of Britain" so are they very rare in Northern Scotland or just "not fairly common"

Andy

Hi Andy,

According to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland by Waring/Townsend/Lewington,
"resident,common. Well distributed throughout England, becoming more coastal North to Northumberland, on the Western side of mainland Scotland and inner Hebrides local, and rare on the isle of Man. Well distributed in Ireland"

So I guess the answer to your question is localised.

fourwings