This is a moth with two faces. At rest, his cream and dark brown forewings are zebra-patterned, very modern, very distinctive. Underneath are hidden his bright orange hindwings. I spotted him first resting on a wall, later collapsed upside-down on the terrace. Beautiful, if dead.
The garden tiger moth is heavy-bodied and hairy, quite easy-to-spot although they do come in a large variety of colour combinations. The colour is designed to ward-off predators, as the moth’s body fluids are poisonous due to its diet of plants such as potato and laburnum which give off toxic substances. If a threat is perceived, the moth opens its wings to show off its coat of many colours.
![[photo: Wikipedia]](https://notesonaspanishvalley.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/garden-tiger-moth-photo-wikipedia.jpg?w=286&h=441 "garden tiger moth - photo wikipedia")
![[photo: Wikipedia]](https://notesonaspanishvalley.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/garden-tiger-moth-close-up-photo-wikipedia.jpg?w=331&h=441 "garden tiger moth, close-up - photo wikipedia")
5 to remember
una polilla – a moth
las alas anteriores – the forewings
las alas posteriores – the hindwings
estampado de cebra – zebra-patterned
al revés – upside-down
Collins Butterfly Guide [UK: Collins]
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A garden tiger moth in #Spain via @Spanish_Valley #moths http://wp.me/p3dYp6-26K
Never seen one of those before. Guessing they don’t make cities like Seville. Closest we get to moths are mothquitoes (bad joke, it’s Monday). Looking forward to more photos.
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It’s not a common moth here either! SD
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We gets lots of similar tiger moths here in France. Glad to find someone who likes moths!
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They are beautiful, but the markings are so subtle I find them quite difficult to differentiate! SD
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Thanks for your help, I find moths particularly difficult to identify! SD
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I think your identification of Garden Tiger Moth may be incorrect; the moth you found is mainly pale with thin stripes of black on the forewings and only tiny dots on the pale orange hind wings.The garden moth has a heavy black pattern on the fore wings, big black or dark blue dots on the hind wings and red fur visible at its head. In fact I saw the same moth as you just yesterday – I live in the hills in Malaga – but I haven’t been able to find a species match for it. Here’s my blog on the matter: http://www.wildingmalaga.com/?p=3930#more-3930
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Perhaps it is local to the Malaga area then. Thanks for helping! SD
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