InsectNet forum

For a few years now the brightly coloured caterpillars of this species have attacked the Buddleia davidii shrubs in my garden. They are easily seen during the daytime as they feed & bask on the leaves protected no doubt by their warning colouration. I collected some last year, fed them on Buddleia leaves. They pupate underground so I just placed the leaves onto a pot containing compost. They eventually buried themselves & pupated.
A few weeks ago I dug out the pupae, brought them inside, put them in an emerging cage & got the two adults pictured here as a result. Also a photo of a fully grown caterpillar from last year

In life the moths have a wonderful twig like appearance