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Cinnabar Moth (Tyria Jacobaeae)
The cinnabar moths eats away the flowers of the ragwort in high speed. What I find interesting is that the plant has poison to protect itself against being eaten. But the caterpillars eat the ragwort and use the ragwort its own poison to prevent themselves from being eaten by birds.
The not-poisonous plants near the ragwort had much less eating damage then the poisonous ragwort.
Dutch name: Sint-Jacobsvlinder
The cinnabar moth is a brightly coloured arctiid moth, found in Europe and western and central Asia. It has been introduced into New Zealand, Australia and North America to control poisonous ragwort, on which its larvae feed. The moth is named after the red mineral cinnabar because of the red patches on its predominantly black wings. Cinnabar moths are about 20mm long and have a wingspan of 32–42 mm.
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