The Garden Tiger Moth or Great Tiger Moth is a moth of the family Erebidae. Arctia caja is a northern species found in the US, Canada, and Europe. The moth prefers cold climates with temperate seasonality, as the larvae overwinter, and preferentially chooses host plants that produce pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It is a night-flying moth of scrub-covered sand dunes, woodland edges, wet meadows, parks and gardens. The striking caterpillars are large, black and covered in long, dense, black and ginger hairs and they are commonly called 'Woolly Bears'. They feed on stinging nettles, dock leaves and many garden plants.
