Caterpillar on an iceberg lettuce?

[lisa c]

Hello there,
I found a caterpillar in an iceberg lettuce last Friday and i have kept it in the house since as i thought it wouldn't survive the cold at the moment. I will try and get a photo put up soon but i'll have to work out how to first! It is quite thin, and is black/brown with a black shiny head and a pale band of colour which is sort of on it's neck , with sparse hairs down it's body with yellowy diamond shapes running down the either side length of it's body.
It also has little brown/black spots down the body too.
Does this sound familiar at all? It hasn't eaten anything for the last couple of days and has stopped going to toilet -which it was doing a lot of before, but i'm just worried that maybe i'm harming it by having in the house?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i am quite ignorant in caterpillar matters i'm afraid, thankyou Lisa

[Wild-Woman]

If it's stopped eating and stopped pooing then it's ready to pupate. Are you able to get a shot of this before this happens so that we could have a go at identifying it? That way someone may be able to advise you on what to provide for it to pupate eg soil,leaf litter or a stick.

[lisa c]

Hi Wild-woman,
Thankyou for your reply. I have submitted a couple of photographs, one is up by my posting and one is -i think- on the image library, or in the 'unidentified' area (i am quite unknowledgeable about submitting photo's etc, sorry, this is my first time!), It seems to have come back to life quite alot in the last day or so and is eating and pooing quite well.
I work in a supermarket in the dining room (this is where i found the caterpillar), and the majority of icerberg lettuces that they get are from Spain, so i'm wondering if it's from there perhaps?
Thankyou for any help on this matter, Lisa

[Lindsay-c]

heres your picture :




not sure what it is but if i find out will get back 2 u

[lisa c]

Hi Lindsay,
Thankyou!!I'll keep trying to find out too! Lisa

[Fauna]

I wonder if this Scarce Bordered Straw (Helicoverpa armigera), they are variable in colour and frequently get imported with food stuffs?

[lisa c]

Hi Christian,
Thankyou so much for your reply. I am so thrilled i now know what type it is!! I looked it up quickly this morning and it is exactly the same as one on a web site! I am going to look it up throughly now as to what it eats, whats best for it regarding releasing etc.
At the moment it is busy eating and growing quite alot! I must admit that i am finding learning about these little things fascinating and i hope to learn more over time. Thankyou again so much, my fruitless searching can finally come to an end!!
Take care Lisa