Big, hairy and distinctively coloured. No, I’m not talking about Aunt Agatha’s legs! My recent feature on large and unusual caterpillars prompted reader David Williamson to tell me about a peculiar caterpillar, seen recently in Puttenham.

Dave is a volunteer warden at Puttenham Barn Bunkhouse, on the North Downs Way, which offers overnight accommodation for cyclists and walkers. He said: “A visitor went to pick an apple from trees in the garden and was startled by a strange caterpillar. It appeared to have made a little nest out of a pair of leaves on the tree. It was identified as the caterpillar of a Pale Tussock moth.”

Dave told me that, according to Surrey Wildlife Trust’s website, the caterpillars used to be known as “hop dogs”, because they were often found feeding on hops as people picked the crops. The UK Moths website (ukmoths.org.uk) adds they used to be a pest of hops when these were commonly grown.

Dave added: “Interestingly, our caterpillar wasn’t far from a large hop field and was next door to old oast houses, which are now flats. The valley in which Puttenham sits was famous for hop growing and The Hampton Estate, which owns most of the land, has reintroduced them. Beer making still happens at The Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham at the end of the valley.”

Pale tussock caterpillars are just over an inch and a half in length and feed on a wide variety of deciduous trees as well as many other plants such as bramble and hops.

The caterpillars are very distinctive: bright green or yellow and covered in long hairs that are very variable in colour: white, yellowy-white, brown, reddy-brown, pink and even mauve specimens have been recorded. They have a row of four denser tufts of hair on their back, which can be yellow, white or pinkish-brown, and a tail-like tuft of red or brown hairs at the end of the body. If the caterpillars are disturbed, they arch their body, revealing jet-black patches between the dense tufts on their back.

The caterpillars pupate over winter and adult Pale Tussock moths emerge in spring.

The adult Pale Tussock is a large, grey moth with incredibly hairy legs. At rest, the front two legs are stretched straight out in front of the body.

The wingspan ranges from 4–6 cm (1.5–2.5 inches). Females are much larger than males. Males have a band of dark shading across the middle of the wings, as well as feathery orange antennae. Females lack feathering on their antennae, and have less-heavily patterned wings. Darker forms of Pale Tussock can sometimes be found, particularly in males.

They fly in May and June, mainly at night, but while the males are active flyers, females are less mobile. They are often attracted to lights – males sometimes congregate in large numbers.

A similar species, the Dark Tussock, resembles the Pale Tussock with the same hairy legs, the front two of which it also stretches in front of the body at rest. But it is primarily a moorland and coastal species. It has grey antennae and the wing markings differ, with two outer central cross-lines and orange scales among them.

Have you spotted any unusual creatures recently? If so, please tell us at the News & Mail, with a photo if possible.