Peacock caterpillar
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Peacock caterpillar by Richard Sutcliffe as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Peacock caterpillar
Image: © Richard Sutcliffe Taken: 30 Jun 2020
This caterpillar of a peacock butterfly (Aglais io) was one of a large number scattered around a patch of stinging nettles. Peacock caterpillars will usually only feed on this plant. The female butterfly lays her eggs in a batch on the underside of a nettle leaf in spring. When the caterpillars hatch they will spin webs of silk (protection against predators) and feed communally. They go through five 'instars', moulting four times, until they are full-grown. At this point the caterpillars will spread out and rely on their spines to deter any birds from eating them. This one was either looking for another nettle leaf to feed on, or was starting to search for somewhere to pupate.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.929532
Longitude
-4.324841