Recently I spotted a large group of the day-flying Burnet moths feeding happily on Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). These chaps are pretty distinctive, and quite possibly had all recently emerged from pupation!
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| Burnet tucking in |
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| The hurly-burly of the ragwort stem |
Another fan of Ragwort is the Cinnabar moth, the unusual caterpillars of which feed exclusively on Senecio species.
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| Cinnabar caterpillar |
3 comments:
Lovely photos of the Burnett moth. Bertie. I took some photos of them yesterday. We have the same caterpillars all over the ragwort. I've never see the burnett caterpillars. Could the moths be cinnebars? I have googled this but remain confused...
Oh my goodness - I've been wondering what those catapillars were on my ragwort...and now I know. Thank you!
Someone told me recently that ragwort was illegal and we were supposed to pull it up and notify 'someone'! Is this true or is my elderly friend a bit bonkers?!
Janet - those caterpillars are most likely Cinnabars, they are synonymous with Ragwort. Beautiful things!
Nutty Gnome - Ragwort only has to be removed on land being grazed by animals, under the animal welfare act. On land not grazed or used for forage production it is definitely legal to grow!
Bertie
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