Making nettle water (fertiliser) this afternoon and I checked if there were any butterfly / moth larvae under the leaves, but I missed one and this beauty floated to the surface along with some tiny bugs. It’s the larva of the Comma butterfly (Hvit C). I moved the larva back onto a nettle plant…
Comma butterfly (Hvit C) caterpillar emerging from the nettle water..it may yet make it to a butterfly
Comma butterfly (Hvit C) caterpillar back on a nettle plant
When I saw this larva in the garden on a cultivated Malva sylvestris (common mallow / apotekerkattost), I didn’t imagine this was a painted lady / tistelsommerfugl (Vanessa cardui), but it turns out that mallows (Malva spp.), other members of the Asteraceae and comfrey (Symphytum) can all feed the larvae!
Beautiful in close-up!!
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
