Cinnabar moth: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the cinnabar moth lives – recorded in 13 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Tyria jacobaeae
Group	Butterflies & moths
Found in	13 countries
Continents	Europe
Class	Insect
Order	Lepidoptera
Family	Erebidae

Where does the cinnabar moth live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the cinnabar moth in 13 countries and territories across Europe. Wikidata gives its range as: New Zealand.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the cinnabar moth?

The cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is an insect in the order Lepidoptera and the family Erebidae, genus Tyria. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the cinnabar moth

The cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is a brightly coloured Arctiinae moth found as a native species in Europe and western and central Asia then east across the Palearctic to Siberia to China. It has been introduced into New Zealand, Australia and North America to control ragwort, on which its larvae feed, as a result of this diet the Cinnabar larvae and adult is poisonous to most of its natural predators, its red coloration acting to signal this to predators (Aposematism).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Cinnabar moth (revision 1380337144), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q769234 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).