A Year in the Valley

No, this cute little caterpillar isn’t a toy!  Mr C found it in some long grass and brought it up to the kitchen for identification.  It is the caterpillar of another pale brown moth, the Lackey Moth.  Common in the coastal areas of Cornwall, this little chap started out as one of a hundred or so eggs laid in a bracelet-style band around a stem of a deciduous tree or shrub, notably hawthorn, blackthorn, or apple tree at the end of last summer.  The caterpillar and its siblings hatched out in the spring and started feeding under a web of silk.  We’re not sure which tree it came from, but Mr C returned it to where he had found it.  When it is fully grown it will fall to the ground and pupate in leaf litter, emerging as a moth July-September.