As you know from previous blogs, I love wildlife ( especially insects) and one of my favourite things to do in the spring and summer is to raise caterpillars and sometimes other larvae (baby insects). In 2018 I raised the caterpillars of a comma butterfly, a Red admiral butterfly, a Small tortoiseshell butterfly and a Buff ermine moth. All of these were successful and they also all fed on stinging nettles!
This year in May 2019, I have a common footman moth caterpillar, a yellow tail tussock moth caterpillar, A twig-like looper moth caterpillar, A green looper caterpillar and a ladybird larvae that I have had since an egg. The common footman moth caterpillar(whom I have named Vanessa) feeds on lichens, The Ladybird larvae(named tiny tim) feeds on aphids and the other three I have feed on hawthorn. The pictures are all of them: