Caterpillar ID!

[GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat]

Is anyone any good at identifying caterpillars? I've just found this one in my garden in the SE. I've had a good detach online but I can't find it

The lighter colour is a blue-ish grey.

Not sure where detach came from, it should've said a good look online

Much easier to id if you know the food plant. Possibly mullein moth if it was on or near Verbascum. If you can hazard a guess as to foodplant, I can look it up in my "Field Guide to caterpillars and their food plants", but otherwise it'll be a slow look through at every species.

It was hanging out on my cordyline! I've tried so many websites and I can't seem to spot it. I've emailed an expert for their input

It's probably something really common that I've overlooked.

I think I've found it! the Toadflax Brocade moth: www.naturespot.org.uk/species/toadflax-brocade
My Field guide to the caterpillars of butterflies and moths of Britain and Europe didn't have it, but I found it online. Looks as though it's a fairly recent colonist from the 50s.

How exciting, thank you so much!! I never would've found it

Funnily enough the cordyline is surrounded by purple toadflax
I wonder if there are more lurking. I feel guilty now as I relocated it into the hedge thinking it would appreciate the cover from birds

There may well be more, do come back and report!

I will do! The caterpillar was rather jazzy

I think that's a box tree caterpillar

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=760

The box tree caterpillar has hairs and OPs doesn’t. I definitely think it’s the toadflax one; it’s identical to other images on the web. Pretty neat beastie!

Deffo the toadflax one - it didn't have any hairs or fluffy bits whatsoever and the broken yellow lines were quite striking!

I've been encouraging purple toadflax to grow in parts of my front garden after it self-seeded

Oh that's good - box tree sounded a pain! 🐛

I've been encouraging purple toadflax to grow in parts of my front garden after it self-seeded

According to wiki, these caterpillars are used as biological controls against a couple of other species of toadflax.

It's interesting isn't it! I had another look today and there are about ten crawling up the toadflax

I'm happy for them to eat it as long as they lay off my other plants

I have precisely one shaped box plant in the garden as I live in fear of box blight and caterpillars!

Great!