Having spent yesterday wandering around inspecting the various twigs/stems I had provided, the larva decided on this one on which to continue its life as a pupa.

First thing this morning:





Note the pad at the bottom end & the sling around the stem & its girth, both made of silk it has spun to support it. This will remain for all of its life until the adult butterfly emerges.

I think there's a new texture in the area behind its head, possibly indicative of the start of the metamorphosis within.......?

To be continued.

Thanks for looking,

Roger.

Thanks, All!

Language, Gareth!!
Don't you dare use the "B" word on this post!!!!

Getting close, I would think.
I'll let you know what's happening as soon as........

Roger.

Thanks Gents, you're most kind!

Roger.

Thanks for the info.,Lubbyman.
I had seen that there is, sometimes, an extra brood in the year, but it didn't say what the parameters were for this to happen.
A combination of size/day-length, perhaps, indicating there's enough time to become an adult & breed in the same year....?

Both interesting & exciting!!

Thanks again,

Roger.

Still growing, now 32mm.long, & I think it's nearing the size/time for it to be ready for the pupa/ chrysalis stage.
I've put a slim twig near so it can transfer from the garlic mustard that's been its home for a while now, it hatched from the egg on 21st. April.
Apparently, they very rarely pupate on the food plant, "knowing" that the stem will die down after summer. So they search for a woody stem that will support them 'til next spring when they finally become adult butterflies!
Anyway, here's the latest:





Detail of its head:





Thanks for looking & showing an interest,

Roger.

Yes David, I do have a stock at home, so when the individual stem the caterpillar is on gets eaten/tatty, I can have a replacement to hand but there is still plenty in the verges.
To be honest, the rate of consumption by this individual (at least) is not fast at all. It's not exactly racing around, so I would imagine all the food it does consume goes into growth, putting on the millimetres! (26mm today.)
As far as eggs go, there are a lot about!
The last time I collected a couple of flower/seed heads, I had to check closely that there weren't any eggs on them, the first 3 or 4 I looked at certainly did!
Finding the caterpillars is quite a struggle! The camouflage is excellent!
Sometimes, even finding the particular one I have is not just a case of a cursory glance, yes there it is, move on.
I have to turn the stem around & look quite close, when they lie along the length of the stem, the green & white stripe of the body just makes them the disappear, even from quite up close!

All good fun & really fascinating!

Thanks for the interest shown,

Roger.

Sorry, that should read "Caveat Ovum" !

R.

I haven't tried, David. It's so small &, I would imagine, very well stuck to the plant. The only result would be the demise of the egg anyway, so......ovum emptor!
The book says they grow to 31mm odd before pupating.
I got the impression (again, from the book) that it was only the early instars that bore the hairs with the liquid-tips.....

Thanks for the interest shown,

Roger.

Still eating & growing.
Now 21 mm. long.

A close escape for the still-to-hatch egg..... if the caterpillars encounter eggs or others of their species, they eat them!

Red in tooth & claw!





A change of lighting.





Any c&c welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Roger.

Caterpillers thereof.

.....Still munching on the Garlic mustard seed pods.
(Good job when everyone else was buying loo rolls, we decided to hoard Garlic Mustard flowers.....!)

Now grown to about 10mm long.







K5, 100mm. D FA Macro, 52mm. of extension tubes, Tamron 1.4x converter.
Pentax AF200t diffused flash on Smallrig Magic Arm
Manual focus, handheld.

Any thoughts you may wish to share will be more than welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Roger.