2022 Early News

2022 could be an annus mirabilis for the Purple Emperor, though much needs to go right and an awful lot mustn't go wrong...

Last year saw a surprisingly good egg lay and a goodly number of larvae entered hibernation. That's a big plus.

To date, winter losses have been low at some monitored sites (only 25% have been predated to date in my local woods, and 33% at another monitored site east of Swindon), though Ben Greenaway has recorded 60% losses so far (mid-Feb) in West Sussex and I've recorded similar losses in the Great Tit haven that is Savernake Forest, my main study site. The mid-February to early March period sees the highest mortality during hibernation.

Another period of high loss seems to be the pupal period, though we are only just starting to study this in the wild. It seems that the longer this butterfly spends in the pupal stage the fewer Emperors we see on the wing.  

This year we have The Queen's Platinum Jubilee in early June, when many larvae should be pupating. Please note that the track record of the Great British Weather during Royal Jubilees is nothing short of appalling - c/f the heavy cold rains of June 2012 and 1977.  Even Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1887 was ruined by the weather - an extreme heatwave ended in an apocalyptic heatwave which caused considerable crop damage...

Watch this space. Whatever will be will be, but it will be interesting...