Caterpillar on lavender ID please

[mrbadexample]

Good afternoon all.

I'm looking for an ID on these blighters, found munching on my lavender:





Location: Walsall, West Midlands.

I like to be as wildlife-friendly a gardener as I can be (sawfly excepted, sorry ). If they are common and destructive, I'm afraid they'll have to be bird food. However, if they are uncommon and / or not too much of a menace, I might not be averse to putting them back.

Many thanks,
MBE

[mrbadexample]

Well, they're not bird food yet. I kept them in a container overnight, with some leafy weed that was growing through my patio. They've eaten some of it, so I've put them out on the rest of the plant this morning, well away from the lavender. If they're not food-specific, they'll be ok, probably.

And if they make it all the way back to the lavender, then they deserve it.