At first glance I really did think that this was a small piece of twig resting in the apple leaf's surface until ....
...... I took a closer look and realised it was the caterpillar of a geometrid moth, perfectly camouflaged as a twig. I've no idea what moth this will be. If its camouflage and twig-like behaviour serves its purpose and it remembers that it's supposed to be a twig and not a leaf, and finds a twig to blend with, it might avoid the attention of roving blue tits in the garden, that are hunting for food for their nestlings. It has the most ornate mottled pattern on its head..... and ....
... a side-on view emphasises its essential twigginess.
If you hold an umbrella inverted under a hawthorn branch at this time of year and give the branch a sharp whack several caterpillars like this often fall in ..... along with all sorts of other interesting insects and spiders that breeding blue tits are looking for.
This caterpillar has been kindly identified by Pedro Pires as the pale brindled beauty Phigalia pilosaria
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