www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Sorry to bother again but I saw this character earlier today on the Erith Marshes (by the tidal Thames).

I'm thinking she/he might be a Moth?

As always, a milllion thanks in advance.

Mike …..

Hi Mike,
That's definitely a Lackey Moth caterpillar... Takes me back to my youth when I used to see loads of these crawling around on trees near my school. If you could see the front end of the caterpillar you would see it has a blue head with what look like black eyes. A bit like Dougal from the Magic Roundabout

Trev

Trev,

Hello; thanks very much.

An extraordinary looking head!

Kind regards ~ Mike …..

They do have an extraordinary head - they look like a cross between Dougal from the Magic Roundabout and Thomas the Tank Engine:

http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.ph ... d=13168157

But I can't quite work out your picture, which looks more like a crocodile cross ...

Guy

Unmistakable

Padfield wrote:They do have an extraordinary head - they look like a cross between Dougal from the Magic Roundabout and Thomas the Tank Engine

You won't find that description in a text book, but I'm sure most of us know exactly what you mean.

David M wrote:

Padfield wrote:They do have an extraordinary head - they look like a cross between Dougal from the Magic Roundabout and Thomas the Tank Engine

You won't find that description in a text book, but I'm sure most of us know exactly what you mean.

Indeed!



Cheers,

- Pete

Hold your horses, this is the rarer Ground Lackey Malacosoma castrensis, a denizen of salt marshes in this country, including the north Kent marshes. It differs from the Lackey in feeding on herbaceous plants rather than trees and shrubs.

M.

M. Sorry but I have only just noticed your kind reply.
Thanks …..