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Garden Tiger Moth

Arctia caja

Description:

Neat moth. Two-inch wingspan. Their pattern and colors are a warning to predators that they are toxic. The wing pattern can vary between individuals. Some have larger blotches with very little white in between, others have more than the one pictured.

Habitat:

The garden tiger moth is found throughout Europe as far north as Lapland, in Asia, and in North America. In the mountains (Tien Shan) this species is found up to an elevation of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). The garden tiger moth loves damp places, which is why it is particularly common in river valleys as well as gardens and parks.

Notes:

Its numbers in the UK have declined by 89% over the past 30 years.

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10 Comments

CarolSnowMilne
CarolSnowMilne 11 years ago

gorgeous moth. This one is on my wish list. Awesome!

Shane_S
Shane_S 11 years ago

Added a photo of the moth's face! Same individual, found the following morning.

Shane_S
Shane_S 11 years ago

Thanks, everyone! They seem to be out in full force right now. I saw several more last night. I love their colors and patterns. Each one is slightly different.

surekha
surekha 11 years ago

Very beautiful capture! Congratulations, Shane!

Josh Asel
Josh Asel 11 years ago

decepticon or autobot? im thinkin' autobot.

Wild Things
Wild Things 11 years ago

Lovely spotting! Congratulations!

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 11 years ago

congratulations!

birdlady6000
birdlady6000 11 years ago

Great spotting and congratulations!

Yasser
Yasser 11 years ago

Congratulations Shane! We've chosen this NY beauty as Spotting of the Day during the first ever Moth Week. Our goal has been to show people the incredible diversity of moth species around the world and prove that moths are so much more then brown sweater destroyers! :) Thanks for the awesome contributions and we look forward to seeing more from you.

"If this Garden Tiger Moth perceives a threat, it quickly shows its brightly colored hindwing pattern and flies away, confusing and warning off predators."

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NuwanChathuranga
NuwanChathuranga 11 years ago

really nice!!! this would be a perfect spotting for the Moths of the World - National Moth Week mission @ http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8841...

Shane_S
Spotted by
Shane_S

New York, USA

Spotted on Jul 27, 2012
Submitted on Jul 27, 2012

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