The family Eucheliidæ contains only four British species, two of which must receive a share of our attention. The first of these is the Cinnabar Moth, which is common in all localities where its food plants—the groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and the ragwort (S. Jacobæa)—abound.
Fig. 112.—The Larva of Jacobææ.
Its colours are so striking that a glance at its representation (fig. 1 of [Plate X]) will render a written description quite unnecessary.
The caterpillar is a very familiar and conspicuous object. Its colour is bright orange, broken by several broad black rings; and its body is thinly covered with hair. When fully grown (July or
August) it descends to the ground, and there changes to a smooth and shining reddish-brown chrysalis.
The moth appears in June or early in July.