www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I have a number of these beasts in the garden, munching on bird's foot trefoil. This one was about 22mm long; some are longer and more of a brownish-greyish-green colour, still with the yellow side-stripes.

More pics:

hi
it could be the clouded yellow caterpillar,
Pat

Not an expert but I would say Brown Line Bright Eye moth which has green & brown caterpillars and is fairly common.
Isn't the Clouded Yellow a migrant and therefore not a breeder in this country?

hi dave,
dont know the brown line bright eye moth,and unable to find a picture of it, so can't comment, but the clouded yellow caterpillar does look similar to the above picture, and one of the plants it lays its eggs on, is the birds foot trefoil, also yes the butterfly is a migrant, it cant cope with our winters, but stays for most of summer, and according to my book it has a very quick breeding cycle, and can lay eggs in early june to produce adult forms by mid july, but then again i could be wrong,
Pat

My two-pennneth:

1. Although the green form looks like Clouded Yellow, I don't think there's a brown form of the larva. So I believe this is probably a moth.

2. Yes, Clouded Yellow do breed in the UK. In fact, it was proven a couple of years ago in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, that it is able to now survive our winters. So maybe no longer simply a "migrant"!

3. I thought that Brown Line Bright Eye fed on tomato plants. Could be wrong!

4. Perhaps worth breeding a couple through. I'd be interested in seeing the pupa and, of course, the adult! But even the pupa would be a giveaway.

Cheers,

- Pete

http://www.schmetterling-raupe.de/art/oleracea.htm

Gives a picture of BLBE brown and green and looks spot on to me !

Certainly looks like it! Thanks!

From looking on Google it seems to be a generalist in terms of what it eats. Why it seems intent on eating all the bird's foot trefoil and ignoring everything else I don't know...

Hi

i am pretty sure that thse are the larvae of the Bright-line Brown-eye, Lacanobia oleracea. We have had them inthe garden this year feeding on a very wide range of plants. I did breed them out when I was a teenager, from caterpilars in our garden (many years ago!!). I'm syure it's not the Brown-line Bright-eye which is ± uniformly brown with fant stripes.

Thats what I mean't actually, shouldn't have such confusing names

No sign of the larvae now, which were about 5cm long when last seen. I did uncover a pupa whilst gardening, and am keeping it in a spare propagator box to see what happens next...but I very much doubt it is the same species, being only half the length!

Two breeding lepidoptera, then. A good start for a three month old garden.

Hi
I think they are Bright-line Brown-eye Ok - my book says the body can be green or light brown, food plants 'various herbaceous plants and shrubs'. They overwinter as a cocoon and emerge in June or July.
The names aren't really confusing, this one has a white line and two brown spots on the wings, the Brown-line Bright-eye has brown lines and white spots. see

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=314 and
http://www.birdlist.co.uk/images/insect ... owneye.jpg

Brian

By confusing I meant that I was going to type Bright Line Brown Eye but came out as Brown Line Bright Eye so it is easy to confuse Bright Line Brown Eye and Brown Line Bright Eye even though Bright Line Brown Eye and Brown Line Bright Eye don't look alike.