Jersey tiger caterpillar (maybe some can confirm this?)

[Jannyfox]

Well I think it's a jersey tiger. I certainly get them here. It was merrily chomping its way through a veronica leaf and when I first looked at the photo, book in hand, I was a bit worried that it might have been one of the destructive tussock moths so I went back out, captured it and it sat in a huff in a jar on my desk while I consulted the internet (my book's a bit old and doesn't have the jersey tiger, but now that's the only tiger moth species I see). I'm not 100% on the ID, but it was all on its own so I put it back out on the veronica. Hopefully it won't eat the entire plant before it goes into hibernation...........

Jersey tiger caterpillar by Jannyfox, on Flickr

 

[Graham]

Lovely find and strange that the moth cats are more interesting than the butterfly cats, either way, this is a lovely find and the world is your oyster with t`internet.

 

[Jannyfox]

Lovely find and strange that the moth cats are more interesting than the butterfly cats, either way, this is a lovely find and the world is your oyster with t`internet.

They certainly are interesting and there are some really lovely moths too. Took me ages to ID - usual problems of variability, similarity between species and few really good images because these guys are pretty small. I really hope I'm right on it as it's still happily munching It would be nice to have a home bred JT next year but it'll probably be eaten when the blackbirds come back