Hi all I found this caterpillar last week on my freshly laundered and folded jeans. I think my cat must have brought it in somehow as he escaped the day before.
I have searched all over the internet but can't seem to identify it. It was very small and dark to start with (see first photo on collage) but has now shed and is much bigger maybe 6cm or so fully outstretched and has turned to a greenish colour with stripes, prominent small black spots and sparse hairs. It also has a 4 red coloured spots towards its head. I was mainly concerned about feeding it but as it's devouring the lettuce I have provided I'm now just curious. Thanks!
Reddish spots near head can be seen on this picture difficult to make out though.
Hi, it looks like a moth, latin name Helicoverpa armigera, & came in most likely on something that you bought at the supermarket, perhaps lettuce or tomatoes (which it loves). It's not normally found in the Uk but had one on here last year (I think). Here is a link to Wikpaedia en.wikipedia.org/.../Helicoverpa_armigera & this is a German site I use with lots of caterpillar photos if you scroll down www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl . It would be interesting to see if I'm right by raising it to an adult
Found another link to it https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/scarce-bordered-straw