Puss in Tube

 Saturday June 15

We'd intended going to Mannington Hall  Open day this morning, where one of our moth group is opening moth traps on behalf of the Butterfly and Moths Association. The forecast rain duly arrived, which made me feel a little better about aborting our visit. If the stalls were on the sloping field used for the Norfolk Bird Fair about ten years ago, my Rollator would have found it very heavy going, if not impossible.

During our time on North Uist, a Puss moth laid a single egg in a pot. This meant that we could definitely ascribe the egg to a species, and therefore its food source. It waited until we were home to hatch out - into a tiny 2cms long from nose to forked tail , caterpillar.

2 Days old



1 week old, second Instar plus shed tail



The Outer Isles are a stronghold for Puss Moth. The only bird with a strong enough beak to break open the chrysalis is a Great Spotted Woodpecker which is not present on the Isles. The favoured food plant is Sallow, very prevalent everywhere as a windbreak for the gardens.

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