Thursday 21 September 2017

Butterfly and Moth Larvae... My Photos

Those of you who have visited my blog recently will know that I have been collating my photos of butterflies and moths. Today I am turning my attention to their larvae, beginning with the larvae of MOTHS...

Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia) larva, I'm guessing 5th instar, Dunwich Heath, Suffolk,
 
Mullein moth larva, RSPB Wildlife Garden, Flatford, Suffolk, 2017

Above and below: Drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria) larva, Flatford, Suffolk, 2016





Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea) larva

Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) larva, St Columba's inland island (photo here),
Snizort River on Skye, 2010

Fox Moth (Macrthylacia rubi)
early instar larva on Raasay, Inner Hebrides, Sept. 2009

Tent of Brown-tail (Euproctis Chrysorrhoea) moth larvae, Spurn peninsula, April 2009
More Brown tail larvae, RSPB Holme Dunes, Norfolk, 2017

*

Moving on to the larvae of DAY-FLYING MOTHS

6-spot Burnet (Zygaena Filipendulae), Mwnt, Pembrokeshire

Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) larva, Snape, Suffolk

Cinnabar moth larvae on (stripped) Ragwort, Snape, Suffolk

* * *

The larvae of BUTTERFLIES

Swallowtail (Papilio machaon britannicus) larva, Norfolk

Swallowtail, devouring Milk Parsley, Norfolk

Swallowtail larva, Norfolk

Swallowtail larva, Norfolk

Swallowtail on Milk Parsley umbels

I'm guessing this is a first instar Swallowtail larva, Norfolk

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) larvae, WWT Welney, Norfolk, 2016

Peacock (Aglais io) larva, RSPB Minsmere, 2016

Large White (Pieris brassicae) larvae, RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, Suffolk

Large White larvae, NT Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

This is not a very scientific post, I'm afraid, but I wanted to group my photos together. I hope it shows something of the diversity in terms of colour, hairiness and shape of a small selection of our UK lepidoptera larvae. As ever, if you spot an error, please feel free to drop a line in the Comments section...

5 comments:

Wilma said...

Love those swallowtail caterpillars.

Conehead54 said...

Beautiful images. Nice to see the larval stages instead of adults for a change.

Crafty Green Poet said...

A lovely selection of larvae, Caroline! The swallowtail caterpillar is amazing!

Ragged Robin said...

A super selection of butterfly and moth caterpillars - especially love the Swallowtail :) You've made me realise how few caterpillar photos I have taken - only Cinnabar and Emperor moths from memory.

Julie said...

Great photos.. and as others have said so interesting to see the larvae stage and not just the adult butterflies or moths. I don't take many caterpillar photos either, although I did take one of an elephant hawk moth caterpillar the other day.