Orange Stunner

Bigger is better!

Though cool and very windy today, the sun was gorgeous and I wanted my sunglasse for my lunchtime walk. Crossing the car park (an artificial surface) to my car I glanced down and spotted what I at first thought was a small fragment of bright carpet. Then it moved and I realised it was a caterpillar. Close inspection revealed this hairy orange beauty, with tufts of red, and those spots on its back. I've never seen one of these before and was delighted. The greyish beige of the surface as a background set it off perfectly. It looked quite stunning.
On return to the office some research enabled me to ID it as the caterpillar of the Sycamore moth (Acronicta aceris) . Naughty me, Googling at work, ahem ...
There are a couple of Sycamores (one of their main food sources apparently) near the edge of the car park, I wonder if perhaps it had been blown off one by the wind.
Incredible to think that these end up as an innocuous, pale, indistinctly marked greyish moth ...