Cinnabar moths mating, South Walney A bright and sunny day on South Walney, with a fresh breeze. I had hoped to see cinnabar moths and we were in luck, a brood was on the wing and some were mating. Their striking scarlet and black colouring warns predators not to eat them, they contain toxins. The moth lays its eggs on ragwort, the foodplant of its caterpillars who ingest its toxins safely and so the moth inherits them. The moth flies by day and at night. Cinnabar moth, Tyria Jacobaeae. Ragwort's Latin name if Senecio Jacobaeae.
I like the interplay between the English and Latin names of species. Each can shed a different shade of meaning. So what is cinnabar? The word flags up both the colour and the toxicity of the moth. Cinnabar is the mineral ore which is mined for mercury, a toxic mercury sulfide. It's used as a pigment and is the red of the moth's wings. So rock, moth and caterpillar are toxic. The geology of cinnabar is fascinating, that's another story.
As for the Latin that links cinnabar moth to ragwort, Tyria Jacobaeae to Senecio Jacobaeae, I have not yet discovered what the name signifies. I see the moth as scarlet, a friend sees it as crimson. Does Tyria suggest the ancient Tyrian dye which yields purple? And what of Jacobaeae? There's an evolutionary relationship between moth and ragwort, an exchange of toxins. Cinnabar caterpillars feed on ragwort, can strip it of leaves. apparently without killing the plant?
As for the Latin that links cinnabar moth to ragwort, Tyria Jacobaeae to Senecio Jacobaeae, I have not yet discovered what the name signifies. I see the moth as scarlet, a friend sees it as crimson. Does Tyria suggest the ancient Tyrian dye which yields purple? And what of Jacobaeae? There's an evolutionary relationship between moth and ragwort, an exchange of toxins. Cinnabar caterpillars feed on ragwort, can strip it of leaves. apparently without killing the plant?
Images of cinnabar moth focus in on the insect, show the detail but lose the impression you have in watching the moth in its habitat here on South Walney, of coast with sand dunes, rabbit warrens and short turf. A small moth, flying low, coming down on warm sand and in a tangle of blades of grass. The day was sunny and warm and cinnabar moths were mating. The videos I took show male and female with fluttering wings, circling about each other.
Images show several different cinnabar moths we found during the day, interspersed with eider duck, with linnet and reed bunting and a wealth of flowers. Now showing on this website's gallery.
10 August 2021. BBC World Service: In The Studio: In Vivid Colour.
A cinematographer, for whom light and colour are of the essence, in conversation with Michael Harding who makes paints organically, in traditional ways. They speak of Turner and artists who all made their own paints. Vermilion comes from cinnabar. Mines in Almaden, Spain, were worked by the Romans- men were sentenced to the mines since they were likely to die of mercury poisoning. To make vermilion, mercury is mixed with canary yellow sulphur which soaks up the mercury. The mixture turns grey-black, like charcoal powder. Add potassium hydroxide and heat, stir, and gradually the colour becomes dark green, then burnt sienna, then crimson and vermilion. It's alchemy. Mercury has been produced at Almaden for 2,,000 years. It's a World Heritage Site.
Images show several different cinnabar moths we found during the day, interspersed with eider duck, with linnet and reed bunting and a wealth of flowers. Now showing on this website's gallery.
10 August 2021. BBC World Service: In The Studio: In Vivid Colour.
A cinematographer, for whom light and colour are of the essence, in conversation with Michael Harding who makes paints organically, in traditional ways. They speak of Turner and artists who all made their own paints. Vermilion comes from cinnabar. Mines in Almaden, Spain, were worked by the Romans- men were sentenced to the mines since they were likely to die of mercury poisoning. To make vermilion, mercury is mixed with canary yellow sulphur which soaks up the mercury. The mixture turns grey-black, like charcoal powder. Add potassium hydroxide and heat, stir, and gradually the colour becomes dark green, then burnt sienna, then crimson and vermilion. It's alchemy. Mercury has been produced at Almaden for 2,,000 years. It's a World Heritage Site.
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