Caterpillar

[Paul Lange]

Found just outside the back gate to the garden. I'm sure it will turn into a stunning butterfly. If someone can tell me what type and when it will likely hatch that would be handy as I would like to photograph the event if I can. Any Butterfly enthusiasts?


Caterpillar.jpg by Paul R Lange, on Flickr



Caterpillar 2.jpg by Paul R Lange, on Flickr



Caterpillar 3.jpg by Paul R Lange, on Flickr



Caterpillar 4.jpg by Paul R Lange, on Flickr

- - - Updated - - -

Apparently it is a Mullein shark caterpillar and turns into a rather large and dull looking moth!

 

[Dave Green]

Nice looking 'pillar

 

[Bryan Hunt]

Nice shot Paul
does this helpFile:Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus Vertical Caterpillar 2000px.jpg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...aus_plexippus_Vertical_Caterpillar_2000px.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Monarch_In_May.jpg/800px-Monarch_In_May.jpg

 

[Dave Green]

That's similar Bryan but striped rather than spotted.

As Paul said above - it's Mullein shark moth.

 

[Paul Lange]

Thanks Dave & Brian. I had to trawl through Google Images for quite a while until I found what it was. I was somewhat disappointed when I found out.

 

[Pete Askew]

These are really nice Paul and I love the backgrounds - natural?

The moth may be a bit dull to look at but they have an interesting story it seems as they were introduced as a weed control species from mainland Europe - not overly successful as usual.

You sometimes get individual adult Monarch butterflies in the UK (usually the SW though) that have been blown off course from their migration from Mexico to N America and back. I don't think they have ever been recorded as breeding in the UK though.

 

[Darren Turner]

now that is really close.......great work Paul, detail is amazing.............!!!

 

[Paul Lange]

Thanks Pete & Dan,

The backgrounds on the first two are natural, they are of the back of my house extremely underexposed as it was too far away for the flashgun to light up. The second two are natural but have had the colours toned a bit. There may be some tell tale purple fringing but I have to check the high res versions as this may be compression artifacts.