The time of the tiger
ISLANDERS can keep their eyes peeled for a local tiger out and about for the next month.
The Jersey tiger, Euplagia quadripunctaria, is a day-flying moth and can currently be seen across the island.
A local couple in the Vazon area, who preferred to remain anonymous, recently saw one on their shed and said they had never seen one like it.
La Societe Guernesiaise Entomology [study of insects] section secretary Trevor Bourgaize said the Jersey tiger is a common species found island-wide.
‘They can be local or we can get them migrating in from all over Europe.
‘Sometimes I get up to 12 in the trap.’
A moth trap is left overnight with a light source to attract moths into it, in the morning the moths inside can be identified before being safely released.
Mr Bourgaize said the Jersey tiger would have started appearing in recent weeksaround a week to 10 days ago and will be around for the next three to four to five weeks.
‘It’s quite a short life cycle, in that time they’ll lay eggs and then we wait until next year for the adults to emerge.’
He said buddleia and hemp-agrimony plants were a particularly good place to look for the moth.
The Jersey tiger is of a very dark brown to black colour. When its underwing is not visible it is a triangular shape with white or cream stripes. At the bottom of its wings is a horizontal V shape stripe and further up another stripe at an angle. When exposed, an orange underwing can be seen although sometimes this is yellow.
Jersey tiger is not the only species of tiger moth that appears on the island: ‘We get the cream spot tiger occasionally, the garden tiger and there’s the ruby tiger,’ said Mr Bourgaize.
