Nettle tap moth Anthophila fabriciana

This is the bivouac of a nettle tap moth caterpillar Anthophila fabriciana, which builds itself a temporary home by folding a stinging nettle leaf and stitching it together with silken thread.

Stinging nettle food plants are ubiquitous and this must be one of our commonest micro-moths, It produces two broods a year and the adult day-flying moths (see below) sometimes appear in very large numbers. The earliest brood to emerge often feeds on cow parsley and hogweed umbels.