One of our most eye-catching moths is back. In the summer, there are plenty of six-spotted Burnet Moths on Cowbar, settling on common knapweed or thistles, their regular choice of nectar source. They’ll lay their eggs on bird’s-foot trefoil, sometimes called ‘eggs and bacon’ because of their egg-yolk yellow flowers and there’s plenty of that on Cowbar.
That seems an apt enough name for the plant which feeds the emerging caterpillars. In spring, on grass stems, you might see the papery cocoons housing the developing moths. You can’t really mistake the moths for anything else that flies around Cowbar – their dark bodies with very visible red spots on the wings stand out even against the purple flowers on which they feed. It’s a pollinator, its caterpillars are a food source for other species and its presence is a good sign of a healthy grassland ecosystem.
Burnet moths are not the only pollinators which love knapweed – as you can see in the images below.
