www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi
Can anyone please help to identify this caterpillar? It came to me in an iceberg lettuce (produce of Spain) at Christmas. It survived the cold of the fridge and at first played dead, but then it uncurled itself and began to eat the lettuce. I have it in a box in a cool place (with lettuce) and it seems to be fairly dormant (overwintering?), though it is occasionally active (in recent warm weather?).

Any advice on what it is and what I should do with it would be very welcome. I was unsure whether I could release it into the garden. Of course, seeing it pupate and eventually become a butterfly or (more likely?) moth would be very exciting.

Thanks.

Hello "S", and welcome.
This looks like a moth caterpillar to me. There are some real bug whizz kids on this forum so I think you'll get a positive ID soon.
Good luck.
Chris

Hello "S"
I,m no expert but I think your caterpillar could be "Bright Line,Brown Eye" (lACONOBIA OLERACIA), if its not ,someone on the site will know for sure !
Regards Allan W.

The caterpillar could well be the Scarce Bordered Straw (or Old World Bollworm) Helicoverpa armigera. The larvae of this species are exceedingly variable, hence my hesitation. They are polyphagous.

M.

Hi,

If it helps for comparison this is an image I have as Bright Line Brown Eye.
Andy

Thank you so much, Chris, Allan, Mikhail and Andy, for your help and suggestions. I am fairly new to butterflying, and moths are still uncharted waters for me, so it is lovely to learn more!

I suppose the only way to know for sure is if this caterpillar makes it through to become a moth. If so, I will let you know.

Thanks for all your help.

I would agree also with Scarce Bordered Straw. I have had experience with this species, I found one on imported veg from Kenya (also from a supermarket).

Moth caterpillars are tricky as you get green and brown variants of the same species and other markings can vary in colour and proportion even in the same instar. However, the spot pattern around the spiracles and on the upper side look really good for Scarce Bordered Straw to me (UKleps.org). I always look at close cousins in the process of elimination and in this case the Bordered Straw looks quite different.

Thank you, Scott and Essex Bertie, for your kind contributions. I am most grateful for all the help offered by this site. And thank you for the direction to the UKleps site, which I didn’t know about before, and has some wonderful photos.

I’m really grateful to everyone for their time and consideration. Thank you.