Silver Birch is one of two native birches, the other being Downy Birch, Betula pubescens. Always found in hoards, unfortunately, which can be kind of disconcerting. Caterpillar Facts • Although the Very Hungry Caterpillar was a very greedy caterpillar, most are actually quite picky eaters and stick to one or two types of leaf. It's closely related to the cecropia moth (above). Larvae of the dusky birch sawfly feed on birch tree leaves. Many exotic species of birch are planted in urban settings throughout the UK, including the Himalayan Paper Birch , … A caterpillar frequently found in gardens and the countryside is the caterpillar of a sawfly often referred to as the The Honeysuckle Sawfly. The caterpillar is the growing stage in the insect’s life and it will moult several times to enable its body to expand.The stage between each moult is called an instar and most species undergo this process four to six times. The solitary larvae feed on Silver Birch leaves between June and September and can grow up to 45mm in length. By Rebecca Perring PUBLISHED: 06:01, Sat, … A black edged bluish stripe runs along the middle of the larva's back for the length of its body. They are the Yellownecked caterpillar, often found on birch and other deciduous trees. This is another big caterpillar -- about the size and thickness of your thumb. The silver birch, also known as the white birch, grows from 40 to 50 feet in height with a slender trunk that seldom exceeds a foot in diameter. These caterpillars are prey to just about every predatory insect, bird, reptile, amphibian, and animal out there so I wouldn't worry too awfully much about what you need to do. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search and secondary food sources are greyed out. • Some caterpillars can be poisonous, taking their poison from the food they eat. CATERPILLARS are plaguing gardens across the UK and destroying one of Britain’s most common plants - the box tree - in just a matter of days. This page lists the larval foodplants used by British and Irish butterflies. There is a single row of black dots along the side of the body. The silver birch tree … The Maryland Cooperation Extension refers to the larvae as "gregarious" and notes that the insects-to-be generally feed in groups, with the edges of leaves being devoured first. They use it to scare predators away, so be careful. Caterpillars have been spotted 'dancing' to put off predators as they eat their way through a leaf. One of several similar species is Zaraea fasciata. Fully grown larvae can appear similar to caterpillars and are yellow-green with black spots along their sides. Galleries for many other parts of the world are being added including North America, The United States and Canada , Africa and Asia. 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