Vapourer Moth Caterpillar

I was looking for insects on Orkney and took a step back when I spotted this caterpillar which grows to a length of 44mm. You don’t have to travel all the way to the north of Scotland to see them, they are found all over the country including here in Somerset.

The yellow parts are known as dorsal tufts and if you are interested Wildlife Insight has a very interesting paper on them.