Erebidae

72.026 Garden Tiger Arctia caja (Linnaeus, 1758)

Common

Similar species: This moth is unlikely to be mistaken for any other British or Irish species.

Forewing: 28 to 37mm

Habitats: Grasslands, sand-dunes, damp meadows, moorland, marshes and fens, open woodland, hedgerows, open wasteground, allotments and gardens.

Habits: The moth comes to light usually after midnight.

Foodplant: The larva feeds on plantains, Broad-leaved Dock, Water Dock, burdocks, clovers, Dandelion, Hound's-tongue, Common Nettle, sallows, Bramble and many other shrubs and herbaceous plants. The larva basks in sunshine. It pupates in a cocoon on the foodplant, in leaf litter or in loose soil.

On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on Yarrow, stonecrops, dead-nettles, Meadowsweet, strawberries, currants, Hawthorn, Rowan, apples, cherries, poplars, Alder and birches.