Caterpillars: Buff-Tip

This is the caterpillar of the buff-tip (Phalera bucephala), wapendrager in Dutch. It is about 6cm (2.2") long. This species is found in Europe and Mongolia, and sometimes right in front of my feet:

^{Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO250, f4.5, 1/40s}

The moth itself is fairly big, with a wing span of about 65mm (2.6"). It is very well camouflaged with its wings closed; it manages to look like a piece of birch wood. I kid you not, look:

^{Photo by gailhampshire, from WikiMedia Commons, under a CC BY 2.0 license}

They come out at night, making them even more difficult to spot. I have never seen one myself.

Thanks for watching!

Previous in series: Lackey Moth.