Clever caterpillars

This morning I had a look for some of the Peacock and Tortoiseshell caterpillars that are on our nettle patch. I noticed several leaves were bent down at a strange angle, so had a look underneath.

There was a caterpillar that had just changed it's skin (and in some cases just the discarded skin) under each of the bent leaves. They had nibbled half way through each of the supporting branches of the leaf, so the leaf folded over and formed a tent around them, offering some protection while they changed their skins. I thought that was quite clever!

The caterpillar in it's leaf tent, with the discarded skin behind it

The main supporting structures of the leaf have been nibbled half way through,
so it flops over to form a tent