Cinnabar content. To produce liquid mercury (quicksilver), crushed cinnabar ore is roasted in rotary furnaces. Pure mercury separates from sulfur in this process and easily evaporates. A condensing column is used to collect the liquid metal, which is most often shipped in iron flasks. Associated modern precautions for use and handling of cinnabar arise from the toxicity of the mercury component, which was recognized as early as in ancient Rome. Because of its mercury content, cinnabar can be toxic to human beings. Though people in ancient South America often used cinnabar for art, or processed it into refined mercury (as a
Cinnabar moth Cinnabar moth The cinnabar moth ("Tyria jacobaeae") is a brightly coloured arctiid moth found in Europe and western and central Asia. It has been introduced into New Zealand, Australia and North America to control ragwort, on which its larvae feed. The moth is named after the red mineral cinnabar because of the red patches on its predominantly black wings. Cinnabar moths are about long and have a wingspan of . Cinnabar moths are day-flying insects with distinctive pinkish-red and black wings. There is little variation in patterning, although on rare occasions the red markings may be replaced with yellow, or