NOT ALL CATERPILLARS WILL BE MOTHS OR BUTTERFLIES

    Last year I found several of these larvae on Meadow vetchling and tried several times to id it .Photos were sent to various experts without success,but it was confirmed to be a sawfly larva ,this year I decided to keep one in captivity and rear it an adult to see if it could be identified.After 4-5 days it moulted and a larva with  different pattern emerged as below                                                                                                                          I again sent of photos and John Grearson one of the uks leading sawfly experts responded with an id ,Tenthredo notha,a species that has only been photographed previously as a larva in Czechoslovakia,it apparently alters its pattern before retreating to plant root area to hibernate for the Winter.

Sawflies get their name from the saw like appendage they use to cut their way into plant tissue to lay eggs.The photo below is of a sawfly that drowned in a hoverfly pantrap,it is possibly Abia candens,the larva of which feeds on the leaves of Devils bit scabious.The "saw" can be seen at rear of abdomen.

                                                       

                                    

Larval stage Abia candens below.

This is a rose sawfly larva Arge gracilicornis.
Sawfly larva have six or more pairs of legs , more than the lepidoteran caterpillars which have only five pairs.

Hello all,welcome to our new link where we hope to help you enjoy the great biodiversity around us.Knowing whats around us helps us to keep track of changes that may be slowly eroding the natural biodiverity of our environment over time.We would like to have reports of what you see,where it was seen ,when and on what it was feeding  if you can.If you don"t know or are unsure of an identity send us a photo and or description and we will try to help identify it.
Below is an example of what we will try to do,

2028 Pale Tussock Calliteara pudibunda

This photo  was sent in by S. Maher who found this caterpillar in Ballycahill last week,we have identified it as a Pale Tussock moth larva .
Adult moths fly in May - June and like the larva are quite hairy,the larva feed on deciduous trees and shrubs and were a serious pest of hops when they were grown commercially.
It is only locally common in Ireland and hasn"t been officially recorded in Tipperary since the mid 90s according to moths Ireland.

                                                                          Tipperary Biodiversity.