Erebidae : Arctiinae
Wood Tiger
PARASEMIA plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
P.p.insularum (Seitz, 1910) - Shetland,Orkney,northern mainland Scotland
Wood Tiger
PARASEMIA plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
P.p.insularum (Seitz, 1910) - Shetland,Orkney,northern mainland Scotland
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: Male - 30-38mm Female - 32-39mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Channel Is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Madeira,Malta,Sardinia & Sicily) : Siberia : E.Asia : Japan : Asia Minor : Caucasus : Iran : C.Asia : Transbaical : Mongolia : China : Canada : W.USA.
UK Distribution: P. p. plantaginis - South -west and southern England,Midlands,Wales,northern England,Isle of Man - widespread but very local : mainland Scotland,Hebrides,Ireland - more well distributed : P.p.insularum - found in northern mainland Scotland,Orkney and Shetland
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: Moorland : Downland : Heathland : Woodland
Similar Species -
Pupa: Cocoon often found spun up on heather in heathland habitat. Pupates for 3 to 4 weeks
Overwinters as: Half grown larva
Observations: An unmistakable moth with black forewings and network of white spots which merge into each other.The wings have a fine yellow border.
The hindwing is yellow with margin ,discal spot,and two long streaks emanating from base all black.The abdomen is orange with black dorsal line and patches.
The moth is local and diminishing from many sites due to habitat loss as land is used more and more for the production of food through intensive farming,especially in southern England.
The moth is variable in colour and detail with many subspecies and forms across its entire global range.
Moth can be disturbed during the day especially males as they fly rapidly and erratically in search of females,whereas the female is relatively sluggish becoming active in late afternoon.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Channel Is.,Corsica,Crete,Cyprus,Madeira,Malta,Sardinia & Sicily) : Siberia : E.Asia : Japan : Asia Minor : Caucasus : Iran : C.Asia : Transbaical : Mongolia : China : Canada : W.USA.
UK Distribution: P. p. plantaginis - South -west and southern England,Midlands,Wales,northern England,Isle of Man - widespread but very local : mainland Scotland,Hebrides,Ireland - more well distributed : P.p.insularum - found in northern mainland Scotland,Orkney and Shetland
UK Conservation Status -
- Local = 101 - 300 10km squares
- Least Concern
- Phalaena plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Phalaena plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Europe
Habitat: Moorland : Downland : Heathland : Woodland
Similar Species -
- None
Pupa: Cocoon often found spun up on heather in heathland habitat. Pupates for 3 to 4 weeks
Overwinters as: Half grown larva
Observations: An unmistakable moth with black forewings and network of white spots which merge into each other.The wings have a fine yellow border.
The hindwing is yellow with margin ,discal spot,and two long streaks emanating from base all black.The abdomen is orange with black dorsal line and patches.
The moth is local and diminishing from many sites due to habitat loss as land is used more and more for the production of food through intensive farming,especially in southern England.
The moth is variable in colour and detail with many subspecies and forms across its entire global range.
Moth can be disturbed during the day especially males as they fly rapidly and erratically in search of females,whereas the female is relatively sluggish becoming active in late afternoon.
Subspecies
P. p. plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Nominate subspecies - Europe (excluding Balkans), S.Siberia (except high mountains), Mongolia
P. p. plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Nominate subspecies - Europe (excluding Balkans), S.Siberia (except high mountains), Mongolia
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Asteraceae - Compositae - Aster-Daisy - Sunflower Family
- Lactuca sativa - Lettuce
- Senecio vulgaris - Groundsel
- Taraxacum officinale - Common Dandelion
- Boraginaceae - Borage - Forget-me-not Family
- Myosotis scorpioides - Water Forget-Me-Not, True forget-me-not
- Cistaceae - Rock-rose Family
- Helianthemum nummularium - Common rock-rose
- Ericaceae - Heather Family
- Erica cinerea - Bell Heather - Heather Bell
- Vaccinium myrtilus - Bilberry - Blue Whortleberry
- Vaccinium uliginosum - Bog Bilberry - Northern Bilberry
- Plantaginaceae - Plantain Family
- Plantago lanceolata - Ribwort Plantain - English Plantain
- Plantago major - Common Plantain
- Polygonaceae - Docks - Sorrels - Knotweeds - Smartweeds
- Rumex acetosa - Common Sorrel - Spinach Dock - Narrow-leaved Dock
- Rosaceae - The Rose Family
- Sanguisorba minor - Salad Burnet
- Sanguisorba minor - Salad Burnet
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species PARASEMIA: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Tpe Locality: Subspecies: Forms: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Noctuoidea Erebidae Arctiinae Arctiini PARASEMIA Hübner 1820 Parasemia plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Phalaena plantaginis Linnaeus, 1758 - PHALAENA plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758) = Paramemia subalpina Schawerda, 1906 - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title Page : : p.501 - n.25 - Europe - P. p. araitensis Matsumura, 1929 - Kamchatka, N.Kuril Is., Paramushir Is. P. p. carbonelli de Freina, 1993 - TL: Zagros range P. p. caspica (Daniel, 1939) P. p. caucasica Ménétriés, 1832 P. p. floccosa (Graeser, 1888) - Middle Amur, Primorye, NE.China (Dunbei), Korea P. p. hesselbarthi de Freina, 1981 - Turkey P.p.insularum (Seitz, 1910) - Shetland,Orkney,northern mainland Scotland P. p. interrupta Schawerda, 1910 - Balkans - forewing has white longitudinal line P. p. jezoensis Inoue, 1976 - Japan P. p. kunashirica Bryk, 1942 - S.Kuril Is. P. p. macromera (Butler, 1881) - Japan P. p. melanissima Inoue, 1976 - Japan P. p. melanomera (Butler, 1881) - Japan P. p. nycticans (Ménétriés, 1859) - NW.Siberia, Evenkia, Yakutia, Magadan P. p. paramushira Bryk, 1942 P. p. petrosa (Walker, 1855) - British Columbia P. p. plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Nominate subspecies - Europe (excluding Balkans), S.Siberia (except high mountains), Mongolia P. p. sachalinensis Matsumura, 1927 - Sakhalin P. p. sifanica Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 - Altai, Sayan, Tannu-Ola, Mongolia (high mountains), Qinghai P. p. stoetzneri O.Bang-Haas, 1927 - Sichuan - P.p.f.hospita ([Denis & Schiffermüller],1775) - male hindwing white P.p.f.luteaobsoluta Tutt, 1897 - hindwing yellow,basal black streaks almost missing P.p.f.matronalis Freyer, 1843 - male wing almost black P.p.f.borussia Schawerda, 1906 - male forewing white spots smaller,hindwing black with white markings reduced P.p.f.flava Tutt, 1897 - female hindwing orange replaced with white |
