Butterfly Larvae

It has been a bad year for Butterflies and Honey Bees i have only seen a few Butterflies this year i spotted this on the Allotments on Nettles.

Nettles are the food plant of a lot of Butterfly larvae, this web is made by the larvae of the Small Tortoiseshell, these webs extend over patches of nettles, with the larvae resting communally or feeding on the leaves.

On emerging from their eggs, the larvae build a communal web, usually at the top of the nettle, from which they emerge to bask and feed. As the larvae grow, they move to new plants, building new webs along the way. This leaves a trail of webs, decorated with shed larval skins and droppings, that show the passing of time, and allows the patient observer to trace the larvae all the way back to the plant where the eggs were laid

Larvae have several techniques to avoid predation. When disturbed, a group of larvae will often jerk their bodies from side to side in unison, which must be a formidable sight to any predator. The larvae will also regurgitate green fluid and will, if necessary, curl up in a ball and drop to the ground. Larvae feed by both day and night and there are 4 moults in total.