www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I know this is probably a well-known butterfly in its caterpillar form but I haven't seen any before. My husband was ill last year so I neglected some of the garden. These were in the neglected patch.

Hi Kipper.

Welcome to the forum.

This is the larva of The Mullein Moth, Cucullia verbasci.

https://ukmoths.org.uk/species/cucullia-verbasci/

Kind regards. Mark

Thanks for your really quick reply. I never thought of a moth. They are on the verbascum as well in the garden, nowhere else.
They are being harassed by swarms of bees. I have a photinia bush. Every June it produces tiny white flowers, it smells like warm cat piddle (or what you'd imagine warm cat piddle smells like). Bees descend on it for about a week, all the time the bush smells. It looks like a giant black bush sometimes, there are so many on it, all sorts of breeds. I always assumed the bush produces the smell to attract the bees. Then in winter the blackbirds feed on the berries. Quick tip. Don't plant one near your house. The stench is terrible as I found out to my cost! Anyway, the bees on the photinia drift off sometimes to the verbascum or the weigela. And the caterpillars get dive-bombed by bees. Not that the caterpillars take any notice.
Anyway, thanks for that.