Striking caterpiller for identification...

[luckcactus]

Whilst trying to tame my leylandii hedge recently, I encountered some rather plump caterpillers - can anyone identify them?

They have green and white hoops along the length of their bodies and are very well camoflaged. They appear to be solitary rather than in colonies. Can anyone tell me what they grow into???

[Wayne]

Possibly one of the http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species_ ... Lycaenidae family?

They are usually little fat solitary catterpillars.

- Wayne

[Pete Eeles]

This is almost certainly a moth or sawfly larva. However, there are lots of them and I've looked through "Caterpillars of the British Isles" and have drawn a blank.

Any chance of a photo?

Cheers,

- Pete

[luckcactus]

I'll have a look to see if I can find one to be photographed. It was three weeks ago and they were pretty plump so may have turned into a pupa.

They seemed pretty specialised for leylandii/conifers - does's this narrow it down?

[COLIN BAKER]

Hi Luckcactus,there are a couple of moth caterpillars that seem to fit the description you have given.

1/ The Kentish Glory which can be seen at:-

http://ukmoths.org.uk/showzoom.php?id=974

2/ The eyed Hawk Moth which can also be seen at:-

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=235

Hope one of these help with your indentification although neither eat the Leylandii.

Cheers


Colin

[luckcactus]

Thanks for the suggestions Colin - they're not stripey enough!.

Mine look just like they are wearing Celtic football shirts.

[COLIN BAKER]

Hi Luckcactus,have to say I'm somewhat waning on this teaser but have done a little more research.

Looking at things back to front I found that the only moth that eats Laylandii is "Blair's Shoulder Knot",a strange name for a moth with strange eating habits. You can find it at:-
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1460

If that draws a blank maybe its a migrant in which case why not search for it at http://www.leps.it/ by clicking on the family name and then searching the thumbnails. You will cover European as well as British this way, so it must be there somewhere, albeit that not all larva are shown.

Good luck and do let us know if you find the moth so I can get some sleep.

All the very best


Colin

[luckcactus]

Thanks for the suggestion Colin. I have looked at the site you suggested and found nothing similar - my eyes went square with all the page scrolling.

I had another look in the hedge and failed to find any more specimens (typical), so can't provide a photo.

I'm certain they were Celtic-striped, but the longer I look at the picture of Blair's Shoulder-Knot moth, the more plausible it is becoming. Particularly as the Leylandii-eating habit seems so un-usual.

I inherited a 20ft Leylandii hedge when I bought the house a few months ago and have butchered it back to about 6ft. Its possible I made the hedge unpaletable to the caterpillers by chopping off the young growth. If they make it to maturity, I assume I can trap the moths and identify them. Finding Shoulder Knot moths would support the theory.

At the risk of sounding like an obsessed weirdo, is there an accepted best way for trapping moths to do a population survey???

[COLIN BAKER]

As I explained to Wayne at the above forum I went to a Mothing Evening a week ago which was monitored by Hants and IOW Butterfly Conservation Moth Officer Tim Norris.
Firstly he is as near to a proffesional as one can get and he is not the only one in Hampshire doing this.
A week later I had a report of the evening sightings emailed and these will in turn be submitted for national records. It was carried out using 2 Mercury Vapour Moth traps which are available through one of the sponsors of this website.

My honest oppinion is that the proffesional option should come first before any thoughts of going to an expense only to find out you dont like staying up to 2/3am looking at moths.
If you are not a member of Butterfly Conservation then join and get free county membership.
Then you will get to know members at a local level who will help you to find out the Moth monitors in you county.
If you then want to buy a Moth trap then search the sponser to this website that sells them and enjoy the fun when and where you wish not forgetting that records should be handled in a way that helps Butterfly Conservation.

All Moth traps are not as expensive as Mercury Vapour ones but the professional will help you.

For the record I saw my first Mothing evening last year and never miss when invited by Tim.
Socially its great fun,educationally it never ends.
Also for the record last week it was 127 different moths seen and all in one night!!!! A record for Tim I believe, with two traps.Fabulous stuff but I will tell you they dont taste nice.

Good luck and hope this has unravelled some of the mystery.

Cheers

Colin