Dancersend

By Dancersend

Hairy caterpillar

This is the caterpillar of the Yellow-tailed moth, found today on a hawthorn hedge which had been largely stripped of leaves and had lots of old webs on some branches - see extra photos. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a Brown-tailed moth - a more serious hedge web-coverer that is the subject of health warnings as its hairs can provoke an allergic reaction. However, careful research showed it was the related (less hazardous) Yellow-tailed and it was pure coincidence that it was on a hedge that has been stripped by one of the Ermine micro-moths, probably Yponomeuta padella.

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