Page 541 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Erebidae
DISTRIBUTION Southern Canada, United States (from New York west to
Washington State, Oregon, and California); also Europe
and across Asia, excluding the far north and south
HABITAT Gardens, parks, river valleys, and meadows
HOST PLANTS Wide variety of herbaceous plants, including nettle (Urtica spp.),
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), dock (Rumex spp.), blackberry
(Rubus spp.), and honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)
NOTE Spectacularly hirsute caterpillar popularly known as a
“woolly bear”
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but declining in many countries

ADULT WINGSPAN
1¾–2 ⁄ in (45–65 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅛–2⅜ in (55–60 mm)
ARCTIA CAJA
GARDEN TIGER MOTH 539

(LINNAEUS, 1758)

Garden Tiger Moth caterpillars hatch from bluish-yellow eggs
laid by the female moth in batches of up to 50 some 10 days earlier
on the underside of host plant leaves during July and August.
The caterpillars immediately disperse to live solitary lives.
After a couple of instars, the partially grown larvae hibernate
and then resume feeding and growth in spring. Development is
usually completed by the end of May, when prepupal caterpillars
are often seen wandering, on the look out for pupation sites.
Pupation takes place in a sparsely spun cocoon made of silk and
caterpillar hairs.

The adult moth emerges in July and is spectacularly colored
in brown, white, red, and blue, its striking appearance advertising
distastefulness to predators. Despite being covered in long
hairs, the caterpillar is frequently parasitized by wasps and The Garden Tiger Moth caterpillar is densely
flies. The Garden Tiger Moth was formerly common in the clothed in long, black hairs and some shorter,
white hairs dorsally. It is black dorsally and
United Kingdom but has steadily declined by an estimated brownish orange below, with four white, lateral
30 to 40 percent over the past 20 years. spots on each segment. The head is black but
usually hidden within the bordering hairs.

Actual size