Tiger moths – Have you seen any near you?

Is there a tiger in your garden?

August 2013. Nature lovers are being asked to check their gardens for tigers in a bid to help conservationists studying the effects of climate change on moth distribution. Tiger moths are amongst the most colourful of the UK's 2,500-plus moth species, but some members of the tiger family have experienced dramatic fluctuations in distribution and population over the last 40 years.

Butterfly Conservation and Lepidoptera journal Atropos are asking the public to send in records of their tiger sightings during Moth Night 2013 - the annual celebration of moths and moth recording, to help gather vital information about this charismatic family.

Garden & Jersey tigers

Two species in particular, the Garden Tiger and the Jersey Tiger, have experienced widely differing fortunes.

The Garden Tiger, known for its distinctive ‘woolly bear' caterpillar, was once widespread across much of the UK and was commonly found in gardens. But this brightly coloured species has suffered a severe population fall of 92% over the last 40 years. It is thought that climate change in the form of warmer, wetter winters has reduced the survival of the Garden Tiger's caterpillar stage with the adult population decreasing as a result. The warmer, wetter weather may have increased the incidence of diseases which would not normally be present in colder, drier conditions.

Benefitted from climate change - Common in London

But climate change has benefitted some species. The beautifully patterned Jersey Tiger, first recorded as an immigrant in Devon in 1880, has experienced a dramatic upsurge. The Jersey Tiger remained confined to an isolated pocket of Devon but in the last 20 years began to dramatically spread across southern England with regular sightings now recorded in Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and as far north as Hertfordshire.

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