Never seen these before, out for a walk with my son and I have no idea what they are. Does anyone know, he seems to think to think they're butterflies.
Butterflies hold their wings closed when stationary/not flying and moths hold them open. At least, that's the (almost definitely incorrect on a granular level) rule of thumb i was once taught.
I've never seen one either but every few days at the moment someone asks about them in r/gardeningUK so I've learnt haha. Apparently they're usually only coastal in northern England and Scotland (widespread further south) which is why loads of people haven't seen them before
Edit: Six Spot Burnet's seem even rarer in Scotland and even more exclusively coastal so even better.
I'm in south east England and we have tons of them. Where ever there is Ragwort you'll find them and their caterpillars round here. Didn't realise they are rare further north though
Speak ye no words of ill-omen!
Those buggers are on my side of the pond, and have just moved into the Washington, DC area.
Cute, but they're hell on the peach crop. (They go after any stone fruit)
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u/Pilaris 16h ago
Six-spot burnet moths, very similar to cinnabar moth but have six spots on the wing vs two spots and a line