As I walked down to the Avocet hide overlooking the DWT Brownsea lagoon, I saw this caterpillar on the path. It was cleared one of the Hawk Moth caterpillars, but which one. The options are Eyed Hawk Moth or Lime Hawk Moth as both are pale green caterpillars with pale stripes and a bluish spike on the tail. Lime Hawk Moth caterpillars have yellow stripes and small red blotches on the sides of the body, whereas, Eyed Hawk Moth caterpillars have white stripes. So, it looks like an Eyed Hawk Moth caterpillar. Their preferred food plants are Sallows, Apple, wild and ornamental Crab Apples and they also occur on Poplars and Aspens. There are a number of Sallows around the hide.
This is what it should look like when it is an adult.
