Campion moth caterpillar

This is a red campion seed capsule full of ripe seeds and .....

... this face peering out of a ripe seed capsule is the caterpillar of the campion moth Sideridis rivularis, which has eaten all the seeds

When they are small the caterpillars can eat the seeds from within, but as they grow that can be a bit of a squeeze, so ....

... they start again, working from the outside.


Photographed at Egglestone in Teesdale, North Pennines

Who ate all the red campion seeds?

Ever since I first introduced red campions into our garden, about twenty years ago, we've had these caterpillars of the campion moth Hadena rivularis feeding on them. 

This is one of this year's brood. They tend to feed on the plant's calyx first, then chew their way into the seed capsule and eat the seeds.

The pictures below are from a brood from an earlier year.

Here you can see it chewing away at the calyx to expose the tip of the seed capsule ..

.... then it eats its way into the seeds.

The caterpillars often tend to spend the day inside empty seed capsules and ....

............if you give the capsule a gentle squeeze it will often emerge.