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According to my ID guides this should be the larva of Arctia caja. Am I right? I found it in a heathland area on the fringe of the Eifel hills (Schavener Heide, Germany, not far from the Belgian border) in late May crawling on Calluna vulgaris. Thank you very much for your help.

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Doubtlessly an Arctia caja.

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Dear Dmitry Gavryushin,
my thanks go to Russia for your help and assistance in prose and poetry. I was 95% sure, but not 100%.
Kind regards,
Hans Theo Krüger

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If that's a larva of Arctia caja it's unusually light in colour. Here's the UK moths page on this moth species, along with some larva photos for comparison with yours:

UK Moths: Arctia caja

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Dear Calilasseia,
thank you for your comment and for guiding me to the UK moths page. The caterpillar in my picture looks indeed lighter than the larvae shown there, there's no doubt about it. I also checked my German ID books again, with exactly the same result. I wonder though whether this is an actual difference or just the result of the specific light conditions (late afternoon sunshine, sun low in the sky) and the aperture with which the picture was taken. Maybe you'll have a look at a second picture where the colour sems to be somewhat darker. The little white spots seem to be typical of Arctia caja, anyway. Unfortunately I can't count on any previous pesonal experience, it was the first time I came across this type of caterpillar.
Kind regards,
Hans Theo Krüger