Wont Go To Bed!

His Imperial Majesty is proving very loath to go into hibernation this autumn.  Today in Savernake I checked 34 of the larvae I'm monitoring: only six were definitely in hibernation, though five others which we not found had probably gone off into hibernation.  Two of the 23 found on leaves were still quite green.  I suspect they'll hurry into hibernation during the coming week, but in the previous four autumns most had gone down for the winter by Nov 10th.  It is, though, a late autumn for many trees, including sallows. 

Great to watch No 94 going into hibernation this afternoon.  He crawled 1.1m from his feeding station, found a scar in the underside of a ~12mm thick stem and then spent 6 mins spinning silk there. Then he turned round, span a bit more silk and then conked out.  Here he is at work -