GARDEN tiger moths are on the wing at night and can sometimes be found in the daytime. They are very striking insects. Their closed forewings are boldly mottled with white and blackish-brown, and when they open them there is a red flash from their underwings. They perform this display in order to warn birds that they are unpalatable. At the same time they may raise a fringe of red hairs behind their head that can discharge an unpleasant- smelling yellow liquid.
They will not be around for much longer, since the females have now laid their eggs on nettles and dandelions, and there are already some tiny caterpillars feeding on the leaves. These will hibernate while they are still very small, but in the spring they will grow into the hairy brown caterpillars known as woolly bears. Woolly bears are often seen walking determinedly along garden paths before they turn into chrysalids. The chrysalids will lie in silken cocoons among ground vegetation, and the moths will emerge from them in their full beauty in July and August next year and begin the whole cycle over again.
DJM