Country diary: A spectacular summer for ragwort – and that’s no bad thing

Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) is more of a poison hazard when cut and dried in hay, its fresh pungency faded and therefore less detectable. Yet it is also a valuable source of late-summer food for more than 80 invertebrates. Around 35 UK insect species depend on it, including the beautiful cinnabar moth, whose silky charcoal and scarlet wings proclaim toxicity, a result of voracious feeding on ragwort before pupating.