White Ermine Moth

The white ermine moth is a member of the tiger moth subfamily Arctiinae within the family Erebidae, widespread across Europe and parts of temperate Asia. Its common name references the resemblance of its white, dark-spotted wings to ermine fur, a luxury material historically trimmed with the black-tipped tails of stoats.

Adults have a plush, densely furred body and predominantly white wings scattered with small, irregular black dots, giving them an elegant, almost decorative appearance among garden moths. The species is a familiar sight in light traps and gardens during early summer.

As a member of the tiger moth group, the white ermine shares broader family traits including warning coloration in some relatives and a caterpillar stage covered in dense hair, making it part of a well-known and visually striking moth lineage found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

• Wings are creamy white to pure white, scattered with small, irregular black spots across both forewings and hindwings.
• Body is thick and densely furred, white with a row of black dots along the abdomen and often an orange-yellow patch near the base.
• Wingspan roughly 3.5–4.5 cm; wings held tent-like or flat over the body at rest.
• Feathery antennae, more pronounced in males.
• Distinguished from the similarly patterned buff ermine and muslin moth by its purer white ground color and more numerous black spotting.

Common across the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and temperate parts of Asia, found in gardens, meadows, hedgerows, and waste ground wherever low herbaceous plants grow. Adults fly mainly at night from late spring into midsummer and are frequently attracted to outdoor lighting and moth traps.

Adults are nocturnal, resting by day on foliage or fences where their pale coloring can still make them fairly conspicuous against darker backgrounds, and flying at night in search of mates. Caterpillars are generalist feeders on low-growing herbaceous plants and are densely covered in long hairs, a trait shared broadly among tiger moth larvae that provides some protection from predators. The species contributes to the broader community of night-flying pollinators and prey items for nocturnal insectivores.

Females lay clusters of eggs on the underside of host plant leaves, which hatch into hairy caterpillars that feed through summer on a wide range of low-growing plants. The larvae molt through several instars before overwintering as a fully grown caterpillar or pupa, sheltering in leaf litter or loose soil. Pupation occurs in a silk-lined cocoon incorporating the caterpillar's own hairs, with adults emerging the following late spring to complete one generation per year.