Ragwort on the allotment - leave it for the cinnabar moth caterpillars which are very prolific - or pull it up?
See the byelaws /rules of your local authority & this may be of interest:
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/regulation/wildlife/enforcement/injuriousweeds.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L88tdKtM1XE
Have just found a cinnabar caterpillar on the potatoes!? Next to a rose bush. Having recently seen and identified the day flying moth "butterfly" which is so unusual and red, it is obviously here to stay. Never seen any before. :sunny:
Is it eating the potato foliage, or just lost/stray? They do enjoy Groundsel as well as the Ragwort. Allegedly, they can synthesise the toxins in Ragwort , to protect themselves from predators, and are considered a 'species of interest' for research into such means of defence.
Well it must be feeding on groundsel of which there is always some around. And the caterpillar just got lost on the adjacent potatoes. Thanks for that Ancellsfarmer. :icon_cheers:
Found another one weeding ................... and left the groundsel there in place it was on!
This daytime moth is not that common and so pretty. Thank you Ancells, learned something. :wave: