Hamsterley Forest, County Durham: These are not such ephemeral creatures. They can live for nine months, if they survive predatory insects and birds
The peacock butterfly caterpillars feeding on the stinging nettles in this sunlit glade seem restless, ready to pupate. Midnight black, speckled with a galaxy of tiny white spots, and armed with spines tipped with fine hairs that might deter a hungry bird, they look as menacing as nettle stings. They need to be, and they’ll need luck to make it beyond the next stage in their life cycle.
I can see parasitoids nearby – at least two ichneumon wasps, armed with long ovipositors that insert eggs with clinical precision, and tachinid flies too. The larvae of either could eat these caterpillars alive, if they get close enough to deliver their eggs. The peacock larvae twitch violently when they approach.
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