An extract from Feral Borough by Meryl Pugh, published by Penned in the Margins in November 2022.
Jersey Tiger Moth[1]
Euplagia quadripunctaria
Like an oversized plectrum left on the windowsill. Like a twist of paper or crisp packet corner, but with volition. A long triangle, striped and firm of outline, with inner flashes of red, effecting an angled spiral towards street tree, then flat against the fissures in Tilia x europaea’s bark.
Territory ever outwards, ever northwards. North warmer. North wetter. O grazer of nettle and bramble, deigning to suburbs now; the first time I saw you, I was standing to stretch by a window, my eyes full of screen and words. One of my hands reflected, marked by stripes, then my thumb detaching itself, zig-zagging away from the glass, describing circles downwards. Ten years or so, and you’re a Londoner, Euplagia quadripunctaria: jazzy looker, summer flitter.
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[1] JNCC, ‘Conservation status assessment for the species: S6199 – Jersey tiger moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria) for the 2019 Article 17 reporting under the European Community Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora’, (Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 2019),
https://jncc.gov.uk/jncc-assets/Art17/S6199-UK-Habitats-Directive-Art17-2019.pdf, accessed 20 August 2020.
