Stats

Lifespan: A few weeks
Size: Medium
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Europe and Asia
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Warning Colors
Status: Common

About

The cinnabar moth is a striking red-and-black moth whose caterpillars feed almost exclusively on ragwort, sequestering its toxic alkaloids to make themselves — and the adult moth — poisonous to predators. Its vivid warning coloration is so effective that even inexperienced birds learn to avoid it after a single taste.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2.
caterpillar
A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3.
cocoon
A silk cocoon spun in leaf litter or soil while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4.
moth
A winged adult with feathery antennae and scaled wings, most active after dark.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Erebidae
Genus: Tyria
Species: Tyria jacobaeae