Name that caterpillar

[Nick Greatorex-Davies]

Pierre Zagatti wrote:

Mr J Nick Greatorex-Davies
(Butterfly Monitoring Scheme co-ordinator)
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology
Monks Wood
Abbots Ripton
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire PE17 2LS  UK

Tel: (+44) (0) 1487 773 381
Fax: (+44) (0) 1487 773 467
E-mail: n.greatorex-davies at ite.ac.uk

>>> Pierre Zagatti <zagatti at versailles.inra.fr> 09/04/99 08:55:57 >>>
I don't know what a Hebe shrub is, but it
might be a larva of the Winter Moth, Operophtera brumata (Geometridae),
rather lazy and adopting a ring posture when disturbed.

Have a look at:

http://www.jouy.inra.fr/USER/PRODUCTIONS/BDD/HYPPZ/RAVAGEUR/6opebru.htm 

Nige wrote:

> On 04/04/99 I saw some caterpillars on a Hebe shrub
> at my girlfriend's garden in Skipton, North Yorks, England.
> They were about 25 mm long; 8 mm wide (quite fat), bright green
> with two(?) greenish-yellow stripes running the length of their
> bodies.  They were not very hairy; possibly some whitish hairs
> around 1 mm long.
>
> Any idea what they might be?
>
>       Cheers,
>         Nige
> --
> Remove the zeds to reply by email

--
Pierre ZAGATTI
INRA Unite de Phytopharmacie et Mediateurs Chimiques
78026 Versailles Cedex
FRANCE
Tel: (33) 1 30 83 31 18
e-mail zagatti at versailles.inra.fr 
http://www.jouy.inra.fr/papillon/ 


This seems most unlikely as Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) are only very small larvae at present and are not normally full-fed (25mm is a large larva) until May in the UK, the majority during  the latter two weeks of May and into first week of June.

Nick Greatorex-Davies