Lingering Late...

Purple Emperor larvae are lingering late this autumn, as are the sallow leaves. 

This photo was taken in Savernake Forest on Sunday November 30th. It shows a larva still in its October resting position on a leaf tip -

This is the UK's latest recorded observation of a PE larva still on a feeding leaf and not either in hibernation or crawling off to hibernation. 

Incredibly, this larva was feeding here into early November. It is  unprecedented for larvae to be feeding in November (I observed three larvae feeding at the start of November this year). 

Also, a number of larvae have recently changed hibernation position, mainly from buds to forks or twig scars. This happens in mild autumns, usually when larvae feel over-exposed.  

Here's one neatly hidden in a twig scar, taken on Nov 30th - 

And here's one by a bud, again photoed on Nov 30th (note the green sallow leaf background) -

This was a very mild (if wet) autumn, with the first frosts not arriving in The Empire until the night of Nov 17-18th. Many sallows have stayed decidedly green, like this one photoed in NW Wiltshire on Nov 27th -

Some sallows may still be in green leaf at Christmas! Or even perhaps at New Year...

This has impacted on the Dangle Leaf season. In particular, many feeding leaves used in October are still attached by the petiole, meaning that they are not dangling prominently on silk strands. They may or may not dangle now, but there's a chance that some new dangles may yet appear, perhaps as late as Christmas. Much depends on the weather...