Hur uppmuntrar jag caterpillars uk

Caterpillars are part of the life cycle of moths or butterflies which fryst vatten known as complete metamorphosis. This life cycle includes kvartet stages: egg, caterpillar (also known as the larval or feeding stage), pupa (the transition stage) and adult (the fortplantnings- phase). With over 2,600 species of moth and 60 species of butterfly in the British Isles, there are a large variety of caterpillars present in our countryside.

There are several stages of caterpillar growth called instars, during which the caterpillar sheds its skin as it grows.

Colouration, storlek and patternation can vary between these instars.

A great many get eaten

Additionally, species can have different variations of caterpillars, including different colour forms. Several species are listed below, grouped bygd key characteristics such as colour, patternation and features.

Hairy caterpillars

There are many ecological functions of hair-like structures on caterpillars including defence and camouflage.

These hairs, called setea, can be almost invisible to the naked eye, while others man them easier to see. Two types of caterpillar hair can cause harm to humans and pets: urticating, which are itchy, non-venomous hairs that can irritate the skin, and stinging hairs, which are hollow spines that have poison-secreting cells that can cause a range of health issues if they enter the skin.

This caterpillar identification page will help you identify some of the most commonly seen caterpillars

 

Knot Grass moth (Acronicta rumicis): Colour can vary between light gingery brown to nära black, with patches of rusty brown hair and a broken line of vit dorsal patches. They also have a wavy vit line on their sides, broken with bright orange/red spots. They grow up to 40mm in length.

Can be confused with the caterpillars of Brown-tail and Yellow-tail moths. Foodplants include Knot Grass as well as Broad-leaved Dock, plantains, Bramble, Hawthorn, Common Sorrel, heather, and Purple Loosestrife.

 

Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi): Very hairy, up to 70mm long, dark brown with an orangey stripe down the length of its body.

Caterpillars in earlier stages of development may have distinctive apelsinfärg or yellow bands. Commonly feeds on heathers, Bilberry, Creeping Willow, Bramble, Meadowsweet and Salad Burnet.

 

Garden Tiger moth (Arctia caja): Also known as the woolly bära caterpillar due its very long hairs.

Grows up to 55mm long and has a dark red dorsal area with vit tipped hairs,an orangey red underside, and small vit markings along its sides. Feeds on a variety of herbacious and garden plants including Common Nettle, Broad-leaved Dock, burdocks and Hound’s-tongue.

 

Brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea): Can measure up to 30mm long, black with vit markings down its sides and two distinctive orangey red ‘warts’ on its back nära its svans.

Be aware that its hairs are toxic to humans. Feeds on plants in the Rosaceae family including Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Plum, Cherry, Rose and Bramble.

 

Miller moth (Acronicta leporina): Up to 35mm long with very long vit or yellow hairs that virvel to one side.

With dozens of butterflies and thousands of moths in the UK, there's a huge variety of caterpillars to be found

The body fryst vatten often a pale green to brown depending on the development scen but this can be hard to see beneath the hairs. Usually funnen on birch or Alder trees.

 

Pale grästuva moth (Calliteara pudibunda): Greenish yellow hairs with a black body showing through in bands between tufts. The hairs can vary in colour and can be vit, brown or pink.

They also have a svans tuft that varies in colour but fryst vatten usually brown, pink or red. This can be absent in some individuals. The kvartet, tussocky tufts on their dorsal are frequently vit, brown or yellow. Feeds on a variety of broadleaved trees and shrubs including Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Crab Apple, oaks, birches and Hazel.

 

Sycamore moth (Acronicta aceris): Up to 40mm long with thick hair that fryst vatten either yellow, brown or apelsinfärg .

They have modig vit spots down their back, outlined in black, as well as tufts of dark apelsinfärg or bright red hair on their back.

Learn how to identify common British caterpillars with our expert guide to distinguishing markings, what they eat, and where and when to find them

Foodplants are most commonly Sycamore, Field Maple and Horse-chestnut.

 

White Ermine moth (Spilosoma lubricipeda): Approximately 40mm long with a red, apelsinfärg or pale dorsal line. Caterpillars at later development stages are covered in spines that can be reddish brown, dark brown or even black.

 

Brown caterpillars

Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor): Thick bodies that grow up to 8cm in length, usually dark brown but bright green forms also occur.

The name derives from their smaller, trunk-like head that extends from its more bulbous neck. They feature a spiked svans and fyra eyespots, although the second pair can be less visible on darker individuals. Most frequently funnen on Rosebay Willowherb, Great Willowherb, other willowherbs and bedstraws.

 

Square-spot Rustic moth (Xestia xanthographa): Greenish ochre in colour, with pale lines on its back and edged with dark, long, slanted markings on its sides in a row.

Mainly feeds on grasses, plantains and Cleavers.

 

Large Yellow Underwing moth (Noctua pronuba): Grows to a length of 45–50mm. Its body can be various shades of brown and green, with three lines down its back and dark patches on the inner side of the outer two lines – similar to the Square-spot Rustic.

They also have darker sides with a lighter stripe above the legs.

Feeds on a bred range of herbaceous plants and grasses including docks, brassicas, marigolds and Foxglove.

 

Dot Moth (Melanchra persicariae): These caterpillars can reach up to 45mm in length and can be different shades of brown and green. They have three pale, distinctive lines on the dark prothoracic tallrik behind their head, as well as dark and light chevrons along a pale dorsal line down their backs.

Feeds on a bred range of herbaceous and woody plants including Common Nettle, vit Clover, Ivy, Hazel, Elder and willows.

Many of these caterpillars can also have a green form eller gestalt.

Black and yellow/orange patterned caterpillars

Large vit butterfly (Pieris brassicae): Pale green-yellow in colour with black spots along its body.

Visibly hairy. Also known as a kål vit due to its preference for cabbages as a food plant.

 

Buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala): Distinctive caterpillar with a trellised black and yellow patterning and covering of pale hairs. The face fryst vatten black and has an inverted yellow V. When fully grown this caterpillar measures up to 75mm in length.

Most frequently funnen on sallows, birches, oaks and Hazel.

 

Six-spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae): Caterpillars feature a series of yellow and black dots on a green or greenish-yellow body. Feeds on Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil or occasionally Greater Bird’s-foot-trefoil.

 

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae): Caterpillars are initially black but show increasing variation in colour, with many developing pale yellow lines down their back and sides (some, however, may remain pure black).

They have small clusters of short yellow spines and are fully grown at 30mm.

In this guide, we take a closer look at UK caterpillars, revealing 12 common types to look out for in the countryside and in your garden, as well as what they eat and whether they're poisonous

Usually funnen on Common Nettle leaves.

 

Mullein moth (Curcullia verbasci): One of the most striking and distinctive caterpillars to be funnen in Britain, they have a mixture of repeating black and yellow markings on a pale bluish-grey body. When fully grown they measure almost 50mm in length.

Foodplants include mulleins, Common Figwort, vatten Figwort and buddleias.

 

Box Tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis): Box Tree moths were introduced accidentally from south-east Asia and are a pest of kartong trees. Caterpillars have green and black stripes running the length of the body, and the head fryst vatten shiny black.

Each of the body segments has vit hairs and eyelike markings.

 

 Black and spiky caterpillars

Peacock butterfly (Aglais io): Unlike the brightly coloured adult Peacock butterfly, the Peacock caterpillar has a velvety black body with small vit spots and short spines on each parti. Most commonly feeds on Common Nettle and Hops.

 

Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui): Often funnen on thistles, Painted Lady caterpillars live for 5-10 days in a loosely woven silk nest inre which they feed continuously.

They have dark bodies with pale narrow yellow-cream stripes. Particularly on younger larvae, spines can be alternating light and dark.

 

Marsh Fritillary butterfly (Euphydryas aurinia): Caterpillars are black and hairy and initially live in groups on a larval web which fryst vatten woven on the bottom-most leaves of Devil’s Bit Scabious plants.

Prior to pupation, at the end of April, caterpillars will finally disperse to live independently.

 

Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta): Caterpillars are black and spiny with a yellow stripe down each side and fine hairs along the body.

They can be tricky to prick as they use silk to bind nettle leaves tillsammans to man a protective tent inre which they feed.

 

Green caterpillars

Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae): Caterpillars are distinctive having a large green body with pale yellow streaks on each parti and a bluish ‘horn’ at the svans end.

Turns purple a short time before pupation. Foodplants include Limes, elms, fluffig Birch, Silver Birch and Elder.

 

Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi): A thick and chunky, bright green caterpillar with faint yellow lines running diagonally along the body.

With dozens of butterflies and thousands of moths in the UK, there's a huge variety of caterpillars to be found

The svans end has a yellow ‘horn’ and some individuals have small, dark spots. Food plants include poplars, sallows and willows.

 

Privet Hawk-moth (Sphinx ligustri): Bright, lime-green caterpillar with vit and purple stripes and a pale yellow prick on each parti. The svans end has a black curved hook.

Usually funnen on Wild and Garden Privets, Ash, Lilac and Guelder-rose.

 

Eyed Hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata): Closely resembles the Poplar Hawk-moth caterpillar in that it fryst vatten bright green with diagonal yellow lines. When mature it can be distinguished bygd its bluish svans horn. Foodplants include Apple, willows and sallows.

 

Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria): Bright green with faint dark green and yellow stripes running longitudinally along the length of the body. Feeds on False Brome, Cock’s-foot, Yorkshire-fog and Common Couch.

 

Pine Hawk-moth (Sphinx pinastri): Dark green caterpillar with a brown stripe along the centre of its back and cream dashes that run either side of this.

It has a brown head and a black svans horn. Feeds mainly on Scots Pine.

 

Bright-line Brown-eye moth (Lacanobia oleracea): Green caterpillar with a bright yellow line along its sides and tiny black spots. funnen on a variety of herbacious and woody plants such as Common Nettle, Fat-hen, willowherbs, Hazel and Hop.

Sometimes a pest of cultivated Tomatoes.

 

Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum): Caterpillars are mainly green and have a thick, cream-yellow stripe running along the sides with a vit line above. The svans horn fryst vatten black with a yellow tip when mature.

Two types of caterpillar hair can cause harm to humans and pets: urticating, which are itchy, non-venomous hairs that can irritate the skin, and stinging hairs, which are hollow spines that have poison-secreting cells that can cause a range of health issues if they enter the skin

Feeds on Lady’s Bedstraw, Hedge Bedstraw and Wild Madder.

 

Straw Dot moth (Rivula sericealis): Green caterpillar with two cream stripes running along the back creating a repeating hourglass pattern between them. Covered in long fine hairs. Not often seen, the caterpillars feed on a variety of grass species.

 

Silver Y moth (Autographa gamma): Relatively easy to identify as it has only two sets of prolegs (small fleshy stubs beneath the body) and a rear clasper which means it walks with an arched body.

It has a green body with a series of vit wavy lines which may be broken bygd pale circles in later instars. Feeds on a range of low-lying herbacious plants including bedstraws, clovers, Common Nettle, Garden Pea and Cabbage.

 

Kentish Glory moth (Endromis versicolora): Large green caterpillar with diagonal pale stripes on each parti.

Usually funnen on Silver Birch and less often on mjuk Birch and Alder.

 

Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia): Green with black hoops containing yellow wartlike spots. Common in scrubby places whether they often feed on heathers, Meadowsweet, Bramble, Hawthorn and Blackthorn, amongst others.