Saturday 4 July 2015

The Very Hungry Caterpillar


I forgive you for munching your way through my strawberry plant, because you are so pretty.



After some internet research I think this is a caterpillar of a Knotgrass moth, Acronicta rumicis. (Please do let me know if I have got this wrong.) There are a baffling number of caterpillars. Click on the name Knotgrass moth, if you would like to see what he will become. Not as bright as I had expected, but still very beautiful. I was amazed when looking through the list of UK moths to see the enormous variety.  Did you know that there are 8 times as many moth species as there are butterflies? Perhaps they need a PR agent, moths just are not getting the publicity they deserve.




10 comments:

  1. Wow! What color!

    http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2015/07/eight-hundred-grapeswith-giveaway.html

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  2. He/she certainly is pretty! Too bad his metamorphosis reveals such a dull moth. I think the opposite is true of some others. A rather plain caterpillar and then a gorgeous adult moth. Thanks for sharing this photo.

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  3. Awesome photos! You got some great detail on the caterpillar and leaves.

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  4. He really is a beauty, but I don't think I'd be so forgiving if he had eaten my strawberry plants.

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  5. Wow. Talented photographer! Love it.

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  6. Caterpillars are cool, especially the brightly coloured ones. I've never understood why moths freak some people out.....

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  7. Beautiful! Will you create a knitted version?
    My Saturday Snapshot post is HERE.

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  8. Great shots! Close-ups are awesome, aren't they? Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  9. Love that perspective on that middle shot♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/z-sighting/

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