Letter in The Times

The Reverend Prebendary's annual letter on the state of the Emperor season in today's The Times - 

  Purple Emperors suffer in lockdown

Sir, Although much of our wildlife has enjoyed the lockdown the purple emperor butterfly seems to have had a disastrous year. Good numbers of caterpillars survived the winter but the long cold spell at the start of June wrought havoc. The pupal stage, which normally lasts a fortnight, was prolonged, thereby hugely increasing mortality due to predation by birds and disease. The flight time period has experienced high winds and cold weather. The high-flying male emperors hate high winds, and the females experience difficulty laying eggs. Reports from the best woods in Northamptonshire and the Knepp Estate in Sussex suggest low numbers.

Walking for several hours in Waterperry woods, north of Oxford, last week I encountered just one female, unexpectedly feeding on blackberry blossom. Common butterflies were in profusion, especially the beautiful silver-washed fritillary and newly emerged peacocks. A kindly local expert pointed me to a large sallow bush with a small ash tree next to it. These were overshadowed and protected by huge oak trees. In the space of ten minutes we saw at least six males perched or flying. I then remembered picnicking exactly there 40 years ago in early August and being dive-bombed by male emperors. This illustrates how dramatically the timing of the flight season has altered.
Prebendary John Woolmer

Cropston, Leics

Thanks, as ever, John...