Arctia plantaginis

Wood tiger
Male
Mounted
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Subfamily:	Arctiinae
Genus:	Parasemia
Species:	P. plantaginis
Binomial name
Parasemia plantaginis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phalaena plantaginis Linnaeus, 1758 Phalaea alpicola Scopoli, 1763 Bombyx hospita [Denis et Schiffermüller, 1775] Bombyx matronalis Freyer, 1843 Nemeophila plantaginis floccosa Graeser, 1888 Parasemia plantaginis uralensis Krulikowsky, 1904 Parasemia plantaginis insularum Seitz, 1910 Parasemia plantaginis carpathica Daniel, 1939 Chelonia plantaginis var. kamtschatica Ménétriès, 1857 Parasemia plantaginis kamtschadalus Bryk, 1942 Parasemia plantaginis paramushira Bryk, 1942 Parasemia plantaginis passanauriensis Alberti, 1973 Parasemia plantaginis hospita f. interrupta Schawerda, 1910 Parasemia plantaginis jezoensis Inoue, 1976 Nemeophila macromera var. leucomera Butler, 1881 Parasemia plantaginis japonica Inoue & Kobayashi, 1956 Nemeophila plantaginis ab. melas Christoph, 1893 Nemeophila caespitis Grote et Robinson, 1868 Nemeophila caespitis Boisduval, 1869 Nemeophila cichorii Grote et Robinson, 1868 Nemeophila cichorii Boisduval, 1869 Platarctia modesta Packard, 1864 Nemeophila alascensis Stretch, 1906 Eupsychoma geometrica Grote, 1865 Nemeophila geddesi Neumoegen, 1884 Platarctia scudderi Packard, 1864 Nemeophila selwynii Hy.Edwards, 1885 Parasemia plantaginis macromera ab. sachalinensis Matsumura, 1927 Parasemia plantaginis altaica Seitz, 1910 Parasemia plantaginis stoetzneri O.Bang-Haas, 1927

Parasemia plantaginis, the wood tiger, is a moth of the family Erebidae. Several subspecies are found in the Holarctic ecozone south to Anatolia, Transcaucasus, northern Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. One subspecies is endemic to North America.

Figures 3-7, wood tiger moth forms

Description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The wingspan is 32–38 mm. This moth is extraordinarily variable. Normally it has a black forewing in both sexes, with moderately broad, ivory yellow bands. The hindwing is yellow in the male, with an irregular marginal band which is often interrupted, and 2 or 3 submarginal spots. The basal portion of the hindwing bears black streaks at the margin of the cell, and before the anal margin. In the female the hindwing is red above with the base strongly black. Numerous aberrations have been found and named, which often occur predominantly, often only exceptionally among typical specimens. Major aberrations are listed by Seitz, 1913

Biology

The moth flies from June to July depending on the location.

The larvae feed on plantains, hawkbits, hawkweeds, and other low-growing plants.

Subspecies

• Parasemia plantaginis plantaginis
• Parasemia plantaginis araitensis Matsumura, 1929
• Parasemia plantaginis carbonelli de Freina, 1993
• Parasemia plantaginis caspica Daniel, 1939
• Parasemia plantaginis caucasica (Ménétriès, 1832)
• Parasemia plantaginis hesselbarthi de Freina, 1981
• Parasemia plantaginis interrupta Draudt, 1931
• Parasemia plantaginis kunashirica Bryk, 1942
• Parasemia plantaginis macromera (Butler, 1881)
• Parasemia plantaginis melanissima Inoue, 1976
• Parasemia plantaginis melanomera (Butler, 1881)
• Parasemia plantaginis nycticans (Ménétriès, 1859)
• Parasemia plantaginis petrosa (Walker, 1855)
• Parasemia plantaginis sachalinensis Matsumura, 1930
• Parasemia plantaginis sifanica (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891)

Gallery

• 
  Caterpillar
• 
  Adult
• 
  Habitat in Ireland

External links

• Lepiforum
• Fauna Europaea
• Wood tiger on UKmoths
• Research group working on Parasemia plantaginis diversity and warning signals at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland