1. Garden Tiger2. Garden Tiger Caterpillar
3. Cream Spotted Tiger4. Cream Spotted Tiger Caterpillar
PLATE XXIX
THE GARDEN TIGER (1 and 2)
Most likely you know the caterpillar of this moth a good deal better than the moth itself; for you may find it in almost any garden feeding on the leaves of hollyhocks and all sorts of other plants, while you can hardly walk along a hedge bank without noticing it upon those of the dumb-nettles. It is called the “woolly bear,” because it is covered all over with long brown hairs which look something like the fur of a bear, and when it has finished growing it spins a silken cocoon amongst the herbage, in which a number of these hairs are always entangled.
But although it is so common one does not often see the moth. For it only flies by night, and hides away so cleverly during the day that one very seldom finds it. But sometimes it will fly through an open window into a well-lighted room, or cling to a street-lamp and gaze at the flame for hours together.
A curious fact about this moth is that it varies very much in colour and markings. Indeed, it would not be very difficult to make a small collection of “tiger” moths, no two of which should be quite alike. It appears on the wing in July, and you may find the caterpillar in May and June.
PLATE XXIX
THE CREAM SPOTTED TIGER (3 and 4)
This is not nearly such a common insect as the “garden tiger.” But at the same time it is a good deal commoner than it seems, for it is such a sluggish creature that it very seldom flies, and the consequence is that one hardly ever sees it. It does not vary very much in colour, for the front wings are always black, with eight large creamy-white spots, and the hind-wings are orange-yellow, with six or seven small black spots, and a big black patch near the margin. The body is black in front, with a white blotch on each side, and orange-red behind with a row of black spots down the middle; so the insect is really a very handsome one indeed.