I was showing a group of friends round a nature reserve in south Oxfordshire, yesterday afternoon when one of them spotted this 5cm-long larva crawling across the path. I was a bit stumped as the only species I could think of was Catocala fraxini (Clifden nonpareil) - but I am going from internet pictures, having never reared it. It was incredibly lively, flexing wildly as it was held. I know the adults turn up each year (I've caught several myself), but I haven't heard of confirmed breeding in our area. Is there anything else it could be? Am I missing something obvious? There is no aspen at the site, but there is poplar and willow. I have it in a netting cage and it started to putate last night.
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteYes, that's Clifden Nonpareil. If you do a Google image search you'll see others which come up looking just like that. Even with its recent (and continuing) range expansion there seem to have been relatively few observations of larvae so this was a lucky find.
Hi Dave, thank you, that is really great. I have the pupa so if/when it emerges I will release back at the same site. Peter
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