Pictures of the Jersey tiger moth by IWNHAS members Ian and Kath Fletcher.
NATURE NOTESEVERY year I look forward to this time of the year when this striking moth appears, regularly as clockwork, in our back garden.
Whenever I see my first one of the year, I find myself catching my breath because it is such a dramatic sight, especially when it is at rest.
But it has a surprise, because what you see when it settles is quite different from the image it presents when it is flying. These two photographs demonstrate why.
When resting it normally closes its forewings over its back and all you see is the wonderful geometric pattern of startling black and white stripes. Much more tiger-like, in my view, than its cousin the Garden Tiger Moth, whose wings are rather more patchy but also very striking.
But set the Jersey Tiger in motion and suddenly the hindwings provide a flash of reddish orange which, as it flies or flutters about in a rather aimless fashion, is really all you see.
The Garden Tiger also has red hindwings but rather more black blotches on them than the Jersey Tiger. The red colour is clearly a defence mechanism and may explain why it flies so readily when disturbed during the day.
It is so colourful and so often seen in the day-time that some people think it is a butterfly but it does fly mainly after dark and it is truly a moth.
Although it is common in the Channel Islands it is also present in vast numbers on the Greek island of Rhodes, where there is a valley which is so overwhelmed by them at times that it is known as the Red Butterfly Valley (a misnomer as I have indicated).
It is found throughout central and southern Europe, Turkey and Iran but in the UK it is found only in the south, and then only in pockets particularly in the coastal counties.
However, there is evidence that it is spreading — perhaps another sign of climate change — and it has recently begun to appear in London on a regular basis. It is now quite frequently found on the IW, although only a few years ago records were much more sparse.
The adult moth will feed on buddleias and thistles, and it will often rest in hedgerows and ivy-covered walls when the weather is not to its liking. At night, like most moths, it is attracted to light.
Like many butterflies and moths, its caterpillars are fond of nettles, so it provides yet one more excuse for leaving patches of them in spare corners of the garden, if you want to encourage them. It does fly best on warm days, and so the recent rainy weather will not have suited it very well.
Its Latin name is Euplagia quadripunctaria, which would seem to be a reference to spots (puncta) but whether these refer to the blotches on its hindwings, or to tiny dots on its forewings, I do not know. No doubt someone will let me know.