The insect world is teeming with fascinating creatures. All year round, ranger Pauline Arends, a true insect expert and enthusiast, chases these intriguing creatures. In the coming weeks she will take a closer look at some of these special specimens.
In the field, green branches stick up with beautiful yellow ray flowers on top. “What you can clearly see is that the leaves have largely been eaten. So it is a bit bare,” says Arends. “The work of the caterpillar of the scallop butterfly.”
It occurs both along major rivers and on the verges of roads: the ragwort. The plants can grow up to almost a meter high.
The ragwort is a cheerful yellow appearance in our Dutch landscape. Despite the yellow, radiant flowers, the plant has a secret defense strategy: the plant is poisonous. This poison serves as a shield against ravenous insects, but also poses a potential danger. If the herb ends up in the hay of cows and horses, it can make them sick. One of the few species that the ragwort can tame is the caterpillar of the scallop butterfly: an orange-black zebra caterpillar.
“The caterpillar is very recognizable. You cannot actually confuse it with any other caterpillar,” Arends explains as she shows the caterpillar up close. “The caterpillar absorbs the poisonous plant juices and that also makes the caterpillar poisonous. It is therefore not on the menu of birds.”
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