Bright green living caterpillar in shed.

[Imladris]

Hi,
When looking for something in heated garden shed yesterday an extremely green caterpillar landed on my shoulder!
Have put it indoors for now, it has shown some interest in mixed salad leaves, but seems to have spun a little bit of silk.
Is this more likely to be an early hatcher, a hibernater, and obviously it could be a moth and not a butterfly.
Have attached picture, any ideas?
We've reared peacock butterflies from larvae before and released them, but we started at a far more favourable time of year! I'm in Bristol, it's cold and very soggy! We couldn't do the rspb garden bird watch as the weather never picked up enough to see more than gulls and crows.
Am I offering the right food?
Any help much appreciated.
Sarah

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Sarah and welcome to UKB ,

This is most likely to be the caterpillar of a moth. As there are so many species to chose from, I think that an identification would be difficult at this stage. Without knowing the species, we cannot therefore tell what its requirements are in terms of food and growing conditions. In the circumstances I think the best course of action would be to put it back where you found it. This would give it the best chance of survival.

Vince

[ChrisC]

and I would say quite likely an Angleshades caterpillar.

Chris

[Imladris]

Thankyou both Vince and Chris.

Since posting, it has eaten some mixed salad leaf and settled down underneath it all with a little bit of silk spun to hold the leaves together. It's obviously hiding out for winter, so it sounds right that most likely a moth. To keep my 4 year old happy, we've gone for the best of both worlds. I've left it in the leaves and put the container under where it fell in the shed, without the lid.
It can go if it wants to, and we'll keep an eye on it if not. Will be nice to see it pupate if it does stay around, moth or butterfly. The she'd is secure to all but bugs, and heated to stay above freezing, so if anything eats it - it can only be a natural predator.

In the interest of "hatching" butterflies again this year, are these peacock butterfly kits where you release them at the end going to start over populating, or are we more helpful to find caterpillars eating in the garden and rear those, or doing none of the above?

We did a kit last year and released 3 live butterflies, but the peacocks are the only species available. If lots of people are doing it I wonder if the larvae of these released ones likely to over-run our other species?

Many thanks for your help
Sarah

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Sarah,

Rearing butterflies from eggs or caterpillars is not only rewarding, but helps to generate a greater understanding and appreciation for these creatures. It's also a great way of getting youngsters interested in the wonders of the natural world, so I would always encourage everyone to have a go.

Although larvae can be purchased online, its much more satisfying to find your own in the wild. Providing you concentrate on the common species such as Peacock, Small tortoiseshell, Large White and Small White, there should be no issues regarding taking a few larvae. If you do collect small numbers of eggs or larvae from the wild, firstly try checking places such as alongside public footpaths or highway verges before they are cut by the local Council. In that way you gain livestock that would otherwise have perished. Also, if you plant cabbages or nasturtiums in a sunny spot in your garden, you are guaranteed to get Large White and Small White eggs and larvae. Many of these will be predated by birds or wasps, so saving a few will not significantly disturb the balance of nature.

As long as the emerging adults are safely released, then enjoy the experience and try to share it with others .
There are also many members of UK Butterflies who can advise you if you have any questions along the way.

Vince

[Imladris]

Thankyou again for a very clear answer.
I'm not so worried about inadvertently taking over the butterfly kingdom with peacocks!

We will keep our eyes open next few weeks as things start hatching and emerging.
Hopefully will find caterpillars on host plants, so won't be plaguing you all for IDs!

My daughter kept wanting to pick the flowers on our potatoes and peas last year, so we have turned a lot of the planting this year over to flowers suitable for cutting. So hopefully we will see an increase in butterflies and bees this year.

Many thanks
Sarah

Ps the green caterpillar has remained in my Tupperware in the shed, and eaten a few more holes in the greens. Hopefully we will get to see who it is!