Its handsome, hairy caterpillar is equally distinctive, if less colourful. With its dramatic warning colours-black-and-white forewings and scarlet rear wings-the garden tiger is one of the most familiar and easily identifiable moths. They’re not to be touched, however, as their hairs are highly irritating and can cause a painful rash. Once the weather warms up, the caterpillars emerge, moving in processions, head to tail.
The obvious signs of this moth’s presence are the conspicuous communal nests in which the caterpillars remain all winter. It will be an unwelcome immigrant, for this Mediterranean species is a major pest, its caterpillars able to strip a pine tree of its needles. Not yet established in the UK, this is a moth that is moving steadily north through Europe and may well start breeding here. Some caterpillars pupate within weeks of hatching and others overwinter, but, frustratingly, few are as easy to identify as that of the elephant hawk-moth. The caterpillar is the growing stage in the insect’s life and it will moult several times to enable its body to expand.The stage between each moult is called an instar and most species undergo this process four to six times. Country Life's Top 100 architects, builders, designers and gardenersĬaterpillars are part of the four-stage lifecycle of every butterfly and moth: egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult.
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