Garden Tiger status

[Pterodroma]

Hi All

Nice picture of a Garden Tiger taken in Lybster on the main page of Caithness.org so I thought that I would add a note about the current status of the species.

This used to be a very common species throughout the UK, known as much for its "woolly bear" caterpillars as for the adult moth. However, since the 1970s it has suffered a serious decline as the following graph shows:



In much of England it is now an unusual or even rare species. One contact of mine describes them as "like hens' teeth" in Essex. The cause appears to be directly attributable to climate change. The species overwinters as a caterpillar and requires cold relatively dry winters. The long run of mild wet winters over the last few decades has led to increased disease and fungal attacks on the wintering caterpillars and the survival rate has plummeted.

Conditions in the Far North of Scotland have remained more to Garden Tigers liking and it is still a common species in Caithness with the adult on the wing from late June to early August with peak numbers in mid-July. My maximum catch at a light trap this year has been 22 in one night - all released alive and well the following morning.

So we are still fortunate to have this lovely moth in good numbers in Caithness, but unfortunately the RSPB are correct in saying that there has been a massive decline nationally.

Regards

Pterodroma