Psi

Chilly, damp, miserable and overcast but quite still. So much so I thought I might have a garden safari and just a chance if I found anything small which wouldn't look as if it had been hit by a hurricane blowing down the lens!

He was incredibly well disguised as the white stripe down it's back seemed to reflect the colour of the lighter lichen. Had he not moved I could easily have missed him!

Far more spectacular than the moth itself, this is the caterpillar of the Grey Dagger moth Acronicta psi which not surprisingly is grey with bold black daggers on it's wings. The latin name also refers to these markings which resemble the greek psi.
He is quite sparsely tufted but what I wanted to show was the amazing hump on it's back which was fascinating! I have been looking all afternoon to try and find out what it is - there is a smaller one near it's rear. These tentacles are fleshy sensory organs and some of the tubercles have a spike for protection. They also make it look more dangerous to ward of predators and some near the rear emit a foul chemical smell to do the same. The hairs or setae break off easily and are an irritant to membranes. Clever when you are everybody's breakfast!

It feeds on fruit trees, hawthorn, birch - in fact a never ending list of trees and shrubs we have in this vicinity and overwinters as a pupa.

Thank goodness I've found one - thought we were clean out of bugs recently!