A cinnabar moth caterpillar (one of many) feeding on what I think is ragwort at the Sustainability Centre yesterday.
Ragwort is poisonous (if ingested) to all invertebrates and is generally controlled in areas where animals graze. These lovely stripy caterpillars (which also have hairy heads) accumulate the toxins in their bodies – their colouring is a warning that they, too, are poisonous. Apparently they can feed on other members of the Senecio genus, including groundsel.
The Cinnabar moth is not the only insect that feeds on ragwort. According to Buglife: “at least 77 insect species have been recorded eating Ragwort leaves or living in the stems and flowers. About 52 of these are known to regularly feed on Ragwort as a significant food plant. More importantly, 30 species of invertebrate are confined to Ragwort as a food plant.”
The adult moth is also stunning, in black and red, but I didn’t see any of those.
Karen wrote:
...on Mon, Jul 5 '10 (583 days ago)