A female. I hope that is the native coastal fireweed it is feeding on, and not the noxious weed! I notice fireweed is about all that's on offer for nectar feeders at the moment. Makes me feel a bit guilty about pulling it out.
Thank you, Jackie. I know of the fireweed problem because of a farmer in the family but didn't know what the plant was in places on Picnic Beach. I also wasn't aware there was a native variety.
Yeah, if growing on a beach or sea cliffs it might be the very similar native Senecio pinnatifolius - check out the daisies ID pages for photos of that and the noxious S. madagascariensis. NPWS used to get a lot of flak for not controlling their "fireweed" in coastal parks, though as the weed spreads it's getting more likely that the one in NPs is the weed and not the native, alas.