Flourescing Pupae and Back to Knepp

Last night, Mrs O and I found three Purple Emperor pupae in an hour, by searching with The Beast, a powerful UV torch you have to get from Amazon USA. That seems to be about par for a good Emperor site, and is about as many I'd expect to find of the more numerous eggs in an hour at a good site in July. 

So far this year, Emperor pupae have been found by UV torch in six counties, including Leics and Notts at the northern edge of the known range. This is a Major Breakthrough... I'll have to rewrite the book...  Here's one from last night, you can spot them from 15-20m -

At Knepp, Emperors continue to come out steadily. We saw the first Empress of the year here today, but it is still very early days indeed. Big Bang (mass emergence) should be fairly imminent, perhaps starting on Friday. Purple Hairstreak is only just starting to get going.  

Here's Neil, my partner in crime, picking up an Emperor and putting it on his nose. Don't ask why -

PS  First sighting in Northants today. Not Fermyn, but down near Silverstone. Fermyn should kick off soon.