New Jersey Tigers

Okay, New Jersey doesn't have wild tigers running around. But a surprising number of other animals are at least partly named after the tiger.

First, our Monarch butterflies are in the subtribe Danaini, which are colloquially known as tiger butterflies. There are other similar looking tiger butterflies, and they're mostly orange and sometimes with black lines. I'm suspicious that this coloring is how they acquired the tiger moniker. One relative in India is actually using the common name of Tiger Butterfly.

August 15, 2020 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve

As I've mentioned before, there are also "tiger swallowtail" butterflies. They aren't in the same family as the "tiger" butterflies, but are a group (glaucus) inside one of the swallowtail genera (Papileo). I'm assuming that the black stripes on yellow (a color that's a little like orange) inspired this name.

August 15, 2020 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve

Next, there are also "tiger moths", the tribe Arctiini. Probably our most common is the Isabella Tiger Moth. This moth is most familiar to us in their caterpillar form as the "wooly bear caterpillar". Here's one of my few adult pictures of one. Why are they called tiger moths? Well, my Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America describes the group as "strikingly attractive", and it's true that most of them are more vividly colored that Isabella in my picture.
August 4, 2016 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary

We also have Tiger Beetles in the state. I'm suspicious that they get their name from their reputation as aggressive predators. Here's my only verified picture of a tiger beetle, the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.
May 27, 2020 at Duke Farms

Although I don't have a picture of one, I'll also mention that we have Eastern Tiger Salamanders here in New Jersey. Though they don't have stripes, they are dark with yellowish blotches and they are my area's largest salamander; presumably one or both these characteristics inspired their common name.

I'm probably forgetting some, but these guys all give you a chance to claim, after a New Jersey hike, that you've encountered tigers!


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