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I found this fully grown caterpillar on the path outside the house and am puzzled what it may be. It looked more like a Peacock than any of the other members of the family. It was clearly ready to pupate so I collected it to hopefully ensure a definite identification in due course. It duly pupated sometime between the 5th and 9th October. Any helpful information from someone more knowledgeable than me would be appreciated.

Hi Peter - no images have been posted. To do this, when posting, click on the "Upload attachment" tab below the text field and take it from there. Either that, or provide a link to the image(s).

cheers,

- Pete

Hello Pete,
Sorry if I implied that I have a picture, perhaps an attempt to get one would have been a good idea, but I was far from sure that my camera would have managed one detailed enough for identification. The pupa formed is certainly one of the Nymphalidae, from the black caterpillar either a Peacock or maybe a Red Admiral (although the caterpillar looked all black with no markings on the side). Also the reference book I looked at says that the Red Admiral pupates in a leaf tent on the foodplant, not wandering off as this one did. But of course the month is totally wrong for the Peacock.
Regards, Peter.

Hi Peter,

Have a look here http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species_ ... pe=primary to see if you can find it.
A photo (regardless of quality) should be able to provide the answer.

Vince