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Cinnabar moth caterpillars and ragwort Senecio jacobaea, medium shot, Full 1080p HD video from Canon EOS 7D. There are two clips, each of 15 seconds: 1. Four large caterpillars attempt to climb onto one snail shell, with consequent aggressive behaviour. 2. Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), a major food plant for this species of caterpillar. Gathering on a snail shell seems to be a popular pastime for these caterpillars. I haven't worked out why. They can only rest there, not feed, so one can only conjecture that the snail shell is warm. The caterpillars of the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) are striped black and orange-yellow, a warning colour and contrasting pattern that is explained as follows: the caterpillars absorb bitter tasting alkaloids from food plants such as ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) that make such plants distasteful to most animals. The caterpillars themselves become distasteful to birds as a result. The bright, contrasting colours are a striking reminder to birds not to eat them. Full 1080p HD video from Canon EOS 7D. Camera locked down. Raw video footage with no post processing. Sound is incidental.