From caterpillar to butterfly & moth: Red Admiral & Silver Y

The 18th of August I found a Red Admiral caterpillar. If you look at my blog post from last year when we also raised one you'll note there's quite a difference in the colour of the two but their markings and spikes are very distinctive.

It spent time munching away on nettles in our butterfly cage until the 23rd of August when it settled on the plastic roof of the cage and hung itself upsidedown - attached securely with silk webbing. 

Butterflies usually make stunning pupae which are true works of art and the Red Admiral does not disappoint. They have shimmering gold patches on them as shown below. Right before emerging they start to darken in colour as their wings prepare for the world. The photo below is from the 3rd of September.

Yesterday afternoon (the 5th of September) I noticed that the pupa was darkening and must've missed it emerging by minutes as when I looked soon after there was a butterfly in the cage. Gutted that I missed it as I've yet to see it in person but it's difficult to hang about when the kids are shouting at each other!

Our eldest has been very excited about this temporary family member as it's one of her namesakes. The Latin name of the Red Admiral being Vanessa atalanta, her own name being Vanessa. On the 6th we woke up to a gloriously sunny day which was just perfect for releasing the butterfly into the wild. All three kids loved it as they always do.

The same day that I found the Red Admiral I also found a pupa sitting under our swing ball set. I had no idea what it was as I had not seen the caterpillar. What I did know was that it was a moth pupa. This is because unlike butterfly pupae which are shimmery and pretty, moth pupae is generally brown and dull. If anything it looks like a small poo. A lot of butterfly pupae are distinct so you can tell what they are but moths look much the same as another, the size varies but that's about it in my experience.

I was curious though. Someone else in a butterfly group I'm in had found am unidentified pupa recently and she'd been blessed with a beautiful Herald moth appearing. I knew that was not what I had as I'd seen photos of hers. But I figured I may as well keep it and wait till it emerged. I wasn't expecting anything special to be perfectly honest. I didn't even know if it would be emerging this year!

But on the 3rd of September I noticed something moving about in the cage. I knew what it was immediately as I've seen a few now and it was not a dull moth at all but a beautiful Silver Y. It was definitely worth keeping.

You can see by the "Y" markings on it where it earns its name.