Euplagia quadripunctaria
| Jersey tiger | |
|---|---|
| Red form | |
| Yellow form | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
| Family: | Erebidae |
| Subfamily: | Arctiinae |
| Genus: | Euplagia |
| Species: | E. quadripunctaria
|
| Binomial name | |
| Euplagia quadripunctaria (Poda, 1761)
| |
| Synonyms | |
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Euplagia quadripunctaria, the Jersey tiger, or Spanish flag, is a diurnal moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus in 1761. The adult wingspan is 52–65 millimetres (2.0–2.6 in), and they fly from July to September, depending on the location. They tend to fly close to hemp-agrimony, Eupatorium cannabinum. In most of their range, the aposematic adults have red underwings. In the northwest part of their range, the adults are polymorphic for underwing colour, being variously red, orange, or yellow.
The larvae (caterpillars) are polyphagous, feeding from September to May on nettles (Urtica), raspberries (Rubus), dandelion (Taraxacum), white deadnettle (Lamium), ground-ivy (Glechoma), groundsel (Senecio), plantain (Plantago), borage (Borago), lettuce (Lactuca), and hemp-agrimony (Eupratoria). The insect overwinters as a small larva.
Large groups of adults of subspecies E. q. rhodosensis can be found on occasion aestivating (sheltering from the summer heat) in Petaloudes, on Rhodes, in a place that has become known as the Valley of the Butterflies.