''Arctia testudinaria'', or Patton's tiger, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. It was described by Geoffroy in 1785. It is found from northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to southern and central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and southern

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

to north-eastern and southern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It has also been recorded from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. The habitat consists of grasslands, slopes, forest edges, clear dry forests, cliffs and mountain slopes, maquis, garrigues and dry meadows. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 35–45 mm. Adults are on wing in May and July. The larvae feed on various low-growing plants, including ''

Plantago ''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a ...

'', ''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distri ...

'', ''

Achillea ''Achillea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The plants typically have frilly leaves and are known colloquially as yarrows, although this common name usually refers to '' A. millefolium''. The genus was named after ...

'', ''

Euphorbia cyparissias ''Euphorbia cyparissias'', the cypress spurge, is a species of plant in the genus ''Euphorbia''. It is native to Europe and was introduced to North America in the 1860s as an ornamental plant. Natural habitat types include dunes, pannes, coasta ...

'', ''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 500 species of Annual plant, annual, Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family (biology), family, Rosaceae. Potentillas m ...

'', ''

Hieracium ''Hieracium'' (), known by the common name hawkweed and classically as (from ancient Greek ἱέραξ, 'hawk'), is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (''Taraxacum''), chicory (''Cichorium''), ...

'', ''

Taraxacum ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

'', ''

Cynoglossum ''Cynoglossum'' is a genus of small-flowered plants in the family Boraginaceae (borage family). It includes 81 species native to Eurasia, Africa, New Guinea, and Australia. '' Cynoglossum officinale'', the common hound's-tongue, is a native of A ...

'', ''

Deschampsia ''Deschampsia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as hair grass or tussock grass. The genus is widespread across many countries.Calamagrostis ''Calamagrostis'' (reed grass or smallweed) is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae, with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the globe. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of ''Calamagrostis'' general ...

''.''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''
/ref> The species overwinters in the larval stage. Pupation often takes place under flat stones. This species, along with the others of the genus ''Hyphoraia'', was moved to ''

Arctia ''Arctia'' is a genus of tiger moths in the family Erebidae. Therein, it belongs to the subtribe Arctiina in the tribe Arctiini in the subfamily Arctiinae. Species are well distributed throughout North America, Palearctic, India, and Sri Lanka. ...

'' as a result of phylogenetic research published by Rönkä et al. in 2016.

References

External links

''Fauna Europaea''
Arctiina Moths described in 1785 Moths of Europe {{Arctiina-stub