Status: Common throughout the UK.
'A Caterpillar, Pearly'
(Campaea = a caterpillar: from the Greek kampe, margaritata = pearly: Latin).
In France, this moth is known as 'Le Céladon' (celadon is a type of ancient Chinese pottery with a pale jade-green glaze): a more fitting description of the colour than the English common name.
The colouration is most intense in freshly emerged specimens and fades to whitish within a few days.
Larvae are brown and twig-like, with hairy extensions fringing the ventral surface - this may help the larvae cling to branches - they rest with their ventral surfaces pressed tightly against tree branches (overwintering as larvae in exactly this way).
Close-up showing the shimmery, pearlescent scales on the wings.
Flight Period: Late May to early September.
Foodplants: A variety of broad-leaved trees & shrubs (including Pedunculate Oak & Hawthorn).
Celadon pottery - which gives this moth its common name in France.(Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - http://www.metmuseum.org)
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