Pink larva

[eccles]

I snapped these six spot burnets before noticing the pink larva feeding on the flower pollen. Does anyone know what it is?
Thanks.

DSC00632.jpg (112.98 KiB) Viewed 943 times

[IAC]

Hi Eccles,
Somewhere along the lines of a Chamomile Shark, not to sure about the colour....they do have variations, never seen a pinkun before.
Cheers IAC.

[eccles]

Thanks IAC. Lots of views but only the one comment so either everyone else agrees or they're flumoxed.

[Pete Eeles]

Not sure if this helps - but this looks like the flower of Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) to me.

Cheers,

- Pete

[IAC]

Hi eccles,
In 2006 we had an invasion of Chamomile Shark on my patch. The larvae fed on Scented Mayweed, chewing the yellow core out, then moving on to the next. The markings look very like Chamomile Shark , however, that pink colouring is strange. There are colour variations...having done a little web research, I did not find any pink ones.
Pete pointed out the flowering plant clue.....if it is Chamomile Shark , that is not the type of flower it favours.
I have to say eccles, that it is the only one I can think of, I thought that maybe we had one or two moth experts among us.....maybe they are on summer hols, so until a better suggestion than this appears, I will settle for Chamomile Shark.
Cheers IAC.

[eccles]

I don't think it's devil's bit scabious - I think DBS is darker, and besides it's flowering a bit early. My guess is it's field scabious.

[IAC]

Its me again eccles,
Just thougt of an explanation as to why it is pink in colour.......it is possible that having climbed to the top of this Scabious, it has just realised that it made a monumental error, and is a wee bit embarassed with itself,and gone pink.........maybe not, sorry about that
IAC.

[IAC]

Yes me again,
Just to say , I think you are right about Field Scabious eccles.......however its still the wrong plant for Chamomile Shark.
Cheers IAC.

[eccles]

Possibly it's picked up the pigment from eating the pollen heads and gone to the next instar with its new colouration. It was definitely eating the pollen heads.

[IAC]

That is an alltogether more thouroughly sensible suggestion than mine, it looks to be about half sized as it is , they grow quite large. Yes, that makes sense........I still can find no evdence of them moving away from the Compositae family of plants.
IAC.

[Deano]

Hello eccles
Just a wild stab in the dark,but your pink larva looks like some sort of Hoverfly larva - what do you reckon?
Regards
Deano

[Cotswold Cockney]

Hello eccles
Just a wild stab in the dark,but your pink larva looks like some sort of Hoverfly larva - what do you reckon?
Regards
Deano

Those were my initial thoughts ~ the elongated tapered appearance I've seen in other Hoverfly larvae. I also see a slight transparent quality ~ another feature of some Dipterous larvae....

[Piers]

Sorry, but certainly not a fly larva. My guess is a geometrid of some sort, but not dipterous.

Felix.

[m_galathea]

I think Felix is on the right lines. I'd say it looks like a pug moth larva. It's not a million miles from Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata) which feeds on scabious flowers. However, I'm not sure that my opinion will carry much weight after making a balls up of that dragonfly ID this week...

[Chris]

I thought Lime-Specked Pug too!! But didn't say anything cos not overly confident... I just had a quick trawl of the UK Moths website

[Matsukaze]

Could it be Satyr Pug?

Compare http://popgen.unimaas.nl/~jlindsey/comm ... yrata5.jpg

[eccles]

That one looks a very close match, Matsukaze. Thanks all for the comments.