MERRY CHRISTMAS

Still feeding my adults on Christmas day. Continual rearing certainly appears to be a possibility for these species. MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.

Shock Horror!

Purple Emperor larvae resent each other's presence almost as much as adult males, so I was amazed to find two hibernating next to each other in Safernoc (ancient spelling of Savernake) today.  Not the greatest of photos but it was too windy for photography -

Here's a wider view -

I was also surprised to find one hibernating a fair way along a dead branch, only the second time I've found one hibernating off a live branch (out of about 120 wild hibernating larvae) -

And here's a nice bicoloured larva, indicating just how chameleon-like they can be -