Bad hair

My son did a double take when he spotted this caterpillar walking down my Tshirt. I put it back on a hazel leaf from whence it will probably find a place to pupate. Its brightly striped coat and furry pelt signal to potential predators that it is not palatable but when it turns into a moth it will be equipped with another form of defence. Thanks to a type of camouflage known as mimesis, the moth, when at rest, has evolved to resemble a stump of broken twig to breath-taking effect.

In the UK hairy caterpillars are always the larvae of moths not butterflies. This is the larva of the Buff-tip, Phalera bucephala.
Strictly speaking the hairs are bristles called setae.