On Wednesday I revisited Bernwood Forest, early for once, and walked straight down the metalled track into Shabbington Wood for a round tour before it got too hot.  I saw five Purple Emperors, all males and all in reasonable condition.  Three were on or over the metalled track and two were in the more shady side rides, where fresh purple hairstreaks were locally abundant on the grass and the low overhanging branches.  

The first Emperor was very obliging.  It spent about 20 minutes probing the ground beneath the small clovery plant that grows prostrate on the margins of the hard surface.  (My knees were shrieking as the sharp gravel pressed further and further into them.)  It then flew around and settled on the brim of my straw hat, where I heard and felt it land but could only see its outline in the shadow on the track.  It repeated this performance and then settled on a low sallow leaf, before returning to investigate me again and settling first on my shirt, then on my shorts, and finally on my hand where it spent about two minutes tasting my thumb.  It then departed over the trees.

Perhaps the accumulated sweat and grime of several days' hard butterflying has some merits, at least to Emperors, and it seems that not all Emperors are distant and disdainful as this one was positively domestic.  My thermometer showed 100 degrees F in the porch when I got home.