Robert Watson's Cinnabar Moth aberration coneyi.

The gaudy, but beautiful Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae moth is a well known species to many lepidopterists and is distributed from the U.K across Europe into Asia. The striking orange, yellow and black striped Cinnabar caterpillars are equally well known and are often to be seen feeding on Ragwort in numbers, which help to control this invasive plant. A remarkable aberration of this moth was bred by Robert Watson [1916-1984], Which he named ab coneyi in honour of his friend A. W. Coney. This aberration would have been produced through many years of selective breeding and Watson had the  ab coneyi strain for 25 years before it died out, so there must be quite a few specimens in collections. However on rare occasions specimens of  ab coneyi  have also been taken or seen in the wild. All the specimens shown of this lovely aberration were bred by Watson and are in a private collection. Peter.


Typical Tyria jacobaeae



Specimens approaching ab coneyi



ab coneyi


ab coneyi.  


ab coneyi. Specimens occasionally have a deeper colour.