Cinnabar Moth
Tyria jacobaeae
Print fact sheet (PDF)
Slate-grey with crimson stripes and spots — the adult of the black-and-orange ragwort caterpillar.
A striking day- and night-flying moth with dark slate-grey forewings marked by a crimson stripe along the leading edge and two crimson spots, and plain crimson hindwings. Cinnabar moths are common wherever ragwort grows around Dumfries — verges, waste ground, rough pasture and dunes — and are easily disturbed from the vegetation during the day.
Behaviour
The colouring is a warning: both moth and caterpillar are loaded with toxic alkaloids taken from ragwort, and birds learn quickly to leave them alone. The bright black-and-orange banded caterpillars feed openly and gregariously in mid-summer and can strip a ragwort plant to a bare stem. The moth flies weakly and is often flushed underfoot on a warm afternoon.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Tiger moths (Erebidae, subfamily Arctiinae)
- Wingspan
- 3–4.5 cm
- Status
- Native; common wherever ragwort grows
Photo by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons