For Toto - monster caterpillar 2

lovely markings BB

he is prob one of Toto's pets

Hes a beauty Sanbaz but only someone real keen on wildlife would tolerate him ..quite happy to eat in broad daylight with markings that say I taste really awful ..lol

Probably why hes been so quiet Eileen sent them to me ..

Cople of hours.... we'll have this plant gone!

As long as he dont come this way, then i like him

Not wrong there Paul apparently prefer this type of buddlea to the davidii - probably as leaves fleshjier also quite keen on verbascum.

Check your pack up Clarice a few could have slipped in on your visit to Harlow Carr .. we breed em big in Yorkshire .

I must admit Bb, I thought this was a Verbascum leaf!!

Definitely buddlea g. as pruned hard last year as grown the size of a large tree .

Yes, the harder they're pruned, it seems...the bigger they grow!!

He's gorgeous BB - reminds me of a poem that Charlotte used to read when she was little. Goes something like: Cecil is a caterpillar, Cecil is my friend, last time I saw Cecil he was this big, and I said woooo Cecil, what have you been done? .... etc. Very apt, they seem to devour for Britain.

got your poets head on dawn tonight

Oh yes Sandra, I'm full of it tonight. Couple of G&T's and I'm away.

Remind s me of the book.... The Very Hungry Caterpillar.....Dawn. My wife Julie used to use it a lot when she taught mainly infants. But she's been taking the juniors more in recent years so I've missed seeing the hungry caterpillar in her bag!

I remember it Paul .... probably this verse is from that book, you'll have to ask Julie. I seem to think the book had cut outs in the pages - oh dear, I'm going back a few years. Thought you'd be taxi-ing tonight Paul?

Yes, it did have cut out and he ate a differnt number of foods each day ie one Apple on Monday two of something else on Tuesday etc.... No taxi ing tonight.....Graeme's got no gig this weekend....only a kiddies party which I took him to this afternoon/evening which was local. Only in Wickford... about 15 miles away!

lol dawn, well its nite nites for me so cya guys,, sweet dreams x

So thats the one i posted back to yorkshire.

Nite Sandra - we look forward to yours and Clarice's pics.

Paul: I can see you've read the book many times, lol. When is Graeme's next test?

Nite to you all.

Good night Clarice x

Hi Paul I also taught infants very early in my career and the Hungry Caterpillar was a great favourite. its a a very apt name for this handsome creature!

what a lovely caterpillar........

Lovely photo of the caterpillar.

Lovely pic Bonkers. This is the caterpillar of the Mullein Moth.

Thanks Hollyeves and Sunblest they are regarded as quite a pest due to voracious appetite but not about to squish any caterpillar .

Thanks Toto just looked him up and he really does eat apparently its hard to find the moths themselves have you seen one or got a pic in your bug catalogue?

I haven't seen one but do have a picture and will scan and post it tomorrow.

Pretty colours I will be checking my plant now more often as I have the same. Lovely photo clear too

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I read that to the preschoolers, they love it! Great photo BB!
I found a picture here of this moth:
www.uksafari.com

Such wonderful Colours & Markings Jane/Ray :)

You should have seen him munching...what an appetite !

Thanks Toto and Tasteyg.

We had caterpillars the same as this living on our verbascums a couple of years ago and looked them up They were something called a Mullein Moth. They were certainly different and brightly coloured.

i found one very similar to this munching blackcurrant leaves tonight.
it was a good 1" long.

What I want to know is what is it going to be when it grows up?

Even though he has a voracious appetite , he's a handsome little, or should I say, 'big' devil ! Speaking of big, you should see our hickory horned devil caterpillars. They look down right intimdating...lol

Oh Linda from pics I saw wouldnt have been much left of it then ?

Only an inch Sbg ? must be a baby all that vitamin C from your blackcurrant will help though.

Apparently difficult to spot when adult moth ..non descript brown Doctorb

Oh now we re intrigued Flower .. yes would love to see them they look as gruesome as they sound ? Toto would love them too I m sure ..lol

Hi bonkersbon. If you want to know? It is the caterpillar of the Mullein Moth. They usually feed off the Verbascum plant and sometimes Buddleia shrubs. If you would like to checkout my members page you will see pic's from when I first joined featuring the same caterpillar.

Thanks Adoronron yes checked your pages - snap ours demolishing a buddleia globosa which not the most attractive of plants ..less so now lol

Any pics of the Mullein Moth, Andoronron? Sorry to sound so heartless...but I do hope it doesn't exist over 'ere.