Not a plant - but any ideas?

[JohnnyD]

This caterpillar has suddenly appeared in some numbers.
I feel I should recognise it - but .............
Any thoughts please.

[Martinr]

I don't know but it may give me nightmares

[ronm]

Its the larva of The Vapourer, Orgyia antiqua. Only the males have wings capable of flight. The males are attracted from long distances to the females, who often end up laying their eggs on the outside of the pupal cocoon.

[Peter Maguire]

So that's where my toothbrush went. 

[JohnnyD]

Thanks guys.

I think we need to buy you a new toothbrush Peter.

JohnnyD

[Lesley Cox]

So what is the Vapourer? A moth maybe?

[ronm]

So what is the Vapourer? A moth maybe?

Correct Lesley, a moth.

[Maggi Young]

Wikipedia says :

The Rusty Tussock Moth or Vapourer, Orgyia antiqua, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae that is native to Europe, but now transcontinental in distribution in the Palaearctic and the Nearctic regions. The orange-brown male flies mostly during the day, but the female is flightless, spending her brief life attached to her cocoon. The hairy caterpillar is spectacular, with "humps", "horns" and a "tail" in a combination of dark grey, red and yellow. It feeds on a wide range of broad-leaved trees and shrubs, and may reach pest proportions in forests and cities.

Here are a couple of links about the critter ....
www.butterfly-conservation.org/uploads/Vapourer.pdf
 
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2026