Wasn't entirely sure what this was until it started maturing. It first became evident towards the end of last year and steadily grew into a compact, dense bush. Recently it became quite leggy and required tying-up to stop it flopping over. Often seen as an untidy roadside plant, it looks great growing in a big clump.
About a week ago we noticed cinnabar moth caterpillars (click the above photo and see how many you can count). They get fatter by the day.
The adult moth is unusual in that it's active by day. It lays its eggs on the underside of ragwort leaves. The caterpillars feed on the poisonous plant - to which they are immune - and thereby become poisonous themselves. Their bright colouring advertises this fact to predators, who learn to leave them alone.
Ragwort gets a bad rap. It's covered by The Weeds Act and many pet and livestock owners get het up about the supposed risk of poisoning. There was a good programme about the danger of ragwort on Radio 4 a few years ago. The conclusion was that most of the concern is unnecessary. Herbivorous animals, dogs, children and what have you won't eat fresh ragwort because it has a very unpleasant taste. The problem arises when it's dried, which diminishes the flavour. So, if it gets mixed up in hay it can upset whatever the hay is fed to. But most hay makers are aware of this and take great pains to avoid contamination, so actual cases of poisoning are rare.
We've also seen many other insects flocking to this plant: various kinds of bee, hoverflies, green bottle flies and gatekeeper butterflies. Definitely the wildlife's favourite this month.
