Red ferraris, scarlet tigers

In May,  Andrew Graham commented that many people had been finding the caterpillars of the Scarlet Tiger moth in their gardens and wondered how many would make it into adulthood in June and July.  

​Andrew adds, 'Well the answer was clearly quite a few and not just in Tisbury. Social media has had plenty of people posting pictures asking for help identifying them and I have seen them on a frequent basis in my garden fluttering around in the afternoon sunshine.

​As frequent daytime fliers they can cause me confusion when I am out butterflying. I saw a few in Groveley Wood but after the initial excitement you realise that none of our butterflies have that striking bright red colour on the moth’s hindwings.
​
After having plenty of caterpillars on our Comfrey I found one hanging on a grass stem where it had emerged from its chrysalis, but it appeared to have failed to “inflate” its wings