First up are these larvae found on what I'm fairly certain is Verbascum. I think they are likely to be Melitaea ignasiti (or whatever the current taxonomy for this entity currently is) but can M. didyma be ruled out for certain? Does it use this foodplant? Whatever the case these are excellent, interestingly-marked caterpillars with a vicious series of blades on them.
orugas
orugas
In April, I came across plenty of interesting caterpillars in the Albarracin area of Spain. I'm pretty sure most of them are fritillaries of one sort or another, but can they be definitley identified to species?
First up are these larvae found on what I'm fairly certain is Verbascum. I think they are likely to be Melitaea ignasiti (or whatever the current taxonomy for this entity currently is) but can M. didyma be ruled out for certain? Does it use this foodplant? Whatever the case these are excellent, interestingly-marked caterpillars with a vicious series of blades on them.
Also on the same plant was this larva - I suspect a tortricid:
First up are these larvae found on what I'm fairly certain is Verbascum. I think they are likely to be Melitaea ignasiti (or whatever the current taxonomy for this entity currently is) but can M. didyma be ruled out for certain? Does it use this foodplant? Whatever the case these are excellent, interestingly-marked caterpillars with a vicious series of blades on them.
Also on the same plant was this larva - I suspect a tortricid:
Re: orugas
The other group of fritillary larvae I found were on foxglove - I'm thinking M. celadussa or whatever the local form of heath fritillary is. Again, attractive-looking larvae and plenty of them.