Unkempt

caterpillars
draped
across rough nettles
beauty
in the unkempt

And this is why it's good to leave a patch of nettles in the garden or, in this case, in an unkempt corner of campus.

Nettle is the larval food plant of the Small Tortoiseshell, and at this time of year you will see clumps of caterpillars emerging; the brood emerging from the eggs laid by the overwintering adults that we saw active earlier in the spring. Those larvae that survive predation will pupate for a few weeks, before emerging as the year's first fresh brood of adults.

I did see one adult Small Tortoiseshell in the same spot today, which looked quite fresh, so that may be a very early one for the first brood.

Also on the wing on campus today, several Speckled Wood, a Green-veined White and a Cinnabar moth.