Knepp: Day 20 - the day after the Columbia game

There shouldn't be a tinge of sadness in the Empire's air as early as July 4th but it is likely that the emergence at Knepp is almost complete for the year, with just a few females still to appear.  

The males suddenly switch behaviour when all the females are out, and have been wedded and bedded - they stop searching the sallow thickets frenetically, stop descending to the ground, start to take the mornings off, and become afternoon creatures, and increasingly territorial. There were signs of all that happening at Knepp today - and on the glorious 4th of July, gosh! Of course, they may simply have been badly hungover, having got plastered for the football the previous day...

It looks as though the male emergence at Knepp ran from June 15th to around July 1st this year. Neil and I saw a few reasonably dark-looking males today, who were sallow searching, but the vast majority were distinctly middle aged.  

I know this sounds ridiculous but I struggled to count 200 today. 

Also, the Knepp population doesn't seem to produce aberrations: I have seen over a thousand (day individuals) there so far this year, all type.

There are still a few fresh-looking ladies around, including this minx who was feeding on sap on Rosemary's Tree today -