# Cinnabar Moth + Araniella Cucurbitina



## Guy_Brooks (Apr 10, 2010)

Hey all,

This may be in the wrong section, so I apologise now. Well in 19 years off living on this planet I have never seen a cinnabar moth in my life! I never knew there was such a beautiful moth in my life! So I took the opportunity to grab a photo of it.










Then my mother spotted an Araniella cucurbitina in the garden so I took a few photos!



















Then the second photo cropped


----------



## Woodsman (Aug 12, 2008)

Great pics. Guy:2thumb:
Find a patch of ragwort plants and it's a fair bet you'll find some stripey yellow and black /Cinnabar caterpillars busily stripping the plant bare.
They are a marvellous natural control of this plant,which incidentally is a valuable invertebrate foodsource.Around 30 species including nationally scarce and red data book invertebrates rely wholly on ragwort for survival.With many more using it as a foodplant,
Furthermore,anyone who takes the time to check the science will discover that this plant is nowhere near as dangerous as the ragwort control fanatics would have us believe.


----------



## Guy_Brooks (Apr 10, 2010)

Woodsman said:


> Great pics. Guy:2thumb:
> Find a patch of ragwort plants and it's a fair bet you'll find some stripey yellow and black /Cinnabar caterpillars busily stripping the plant bare.
> They are a marvellous natural control of this plant,which incidentally is a valuable invertebrate foodsource.Around 30 species including nationally scarce and red data book invertebrates rely wholly on ragwort for survival.With many more using it as a foodplant,
> Furthermore,anyone who takes the time to check the science will discover that this plant is nowhere near as dangerous as the ragwort control fanatics would have us believe.


Wow I learned something! Thanks for that dude and I'll keep an eye for one of them plants and see if anything else is lerking in it!


----------

