Garden Tiger Arctia caja

Garden Tiger Arctia caja (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status .....Once a very common moth across the whole of the UK, the Garden Tiger has now all but disappeared from Nottinghamshire. Well known to generations of school children for its 'Woolly Bear' caterpillar, today's younger generations have missed out on seeing this splendid moth. Although there have been very few records in recent years, it seems that the Garden Tiger is making a comeback, with the Idle Valley NR now recording it annually, but we also know of at least one site in suburban Nottingham, where it has also occurred in recent years. The one photographed, was kindly given to us for photographing by Dave Hursthouse in July 2013.
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Photographed at Lound Wood June 2007

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Early stages
Early instar larvae (captive reared). Photographed October 2021.

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Half-grown larva (captive reared). Photographed October 2021.

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Full-grown larva (captive reared). Photographed October 2021.


Nottinghamshire (VC56) distribution of Garden Tiger

The records for the Nottinghamshire distribution map are currently provided by the following contributors - Lound Moth Group. Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth reports 2003-2012). Graham Birkett. Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2013). Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2014). Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2015). Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2016). NBGRC. Barry Lygo. Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2017). Melanie Newman. Martin Gray. Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2018). Graham Beeley. Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2019). Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2020). Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2021). Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire macro moth report 2022). J.T. Radford.

You can contribute your own records to help us gain an accurate status of this species in Nottinghamshire. Send an Excel spreadsheet of your records via the 'contact us' link at the top of the homepage.

Updated January 2024