I’m mullein it over

Our brightly coloured mullein moth caterpillars seem to have disappeared already – they will have formed tough cocoons beneath the ground and may now overwinter for as long as four years! Would you fancy being buried in the dark for that long? Not surprisingly they feed on the tall yellow mulleins and are pale blue/grey with large black spots and yellow blotches – quite distinctive and between 40 and 50 mm long. However, the adult moth is a pretty dull sort of thing.