Caterpillar ID please

[Murph]

Hi, can anyone help with this one? Thanks, Paul.

[Vince Massimo]

Paul,

It's one of the Burnet Moths. Probably 6-Spot Burnet, which is on the wing before the 5-spot. The 5-Spot is also quite a local species so if you see one with five spots it is more likely to be a Narrow Bordered 5-Spot Burnet. You need to check which are resident in your area. They are pupating now in white papery cocoons on plant stems. I am just looking for a photo now..............

Narrow Bordered 5-Spot Burnet larva and cocoon

This does not look quite the same as yours, but I think it may be because they are different ages.

Vince.

[Murph]

Hi Vince, thanks for the reply. I found lots of those papery cucoons as well, attached to dry phragmites stems; I didn't know what they were either! Paul.

[Rimo]

The long hairs mean that this isn't either 5 or 6-spot Burnet - they have hairs that are far shorter, as shown in the second picture. This is almost certainly Narrow-Bordered 5-Spot Burnet (I don't know the larvae of the rarer Burnets).

[Vince Massimo]

Thanks Rimo, that seems to tie things up. Here is a link that I should have put on my original post.

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=2160

Cheers,
Vince