Diana McCarrick found this caterpillar on some locally bought Carnations she was throwing out on 7th Feb. We identified it as a Scarce Bordered Straw from a photo Mick, her husband, had sent us and Andy and I collected it this afternoon to breed through. It's the first larval record of the species in the county. All previous records refer to migrant adults but this larva has arrived on the Carnations. Although the origin of the flowers is unknown they are most likely to have been imported from Kenya. Thanks to Diana and Mick for allowing us to take custody of it. Photos Melissa Banthorpe
