The garden tiger moth is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Arctiidae

Arctiidae

Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths , which usually have bright colours, footmen , lichen moths and wasp moths...

 family.

It has a wingspan of 45 to 65 mm (1.8 to 2.6 ). The design of the wings varies: the front wings are brown with a white pattern (which can however be missing), the back wings orange with a pattern of black dots. The conspicuous patterns serve as a warning to predators, because the moth's body fluids are poisonous. Its effects are not yet fully known, but they contain quantities of choline

Choline

Choline is a water-soluble essential nutrient. It is usually grouped within the B-complex vitamins. Choline generally refers to the various quaternary ammonium salts containing the N,N,N-trimethylethanolammonium cation....

 ester

Ester

Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...

s which are neurotoxic by interfering with the acetylcholine receptor

Acetylcholine receptor

An acetylcholine receptor is an integral membrane protein that responds to the binding of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.-Classification:...

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