Fri July 26th: Closing Time...

Five rather ancient males active in the favoured territories in Savernake Forest today, notably this fellow who was in the same spot back on July 17th & 18th. He's Pecked Hind Right, though the distinct peck mark isn't visible in this photo. This counts as a 'recapture', in mark, release, recapture work - though I've no idea how old he was on the 17th. He's at least ten days old, probably >14. 

Given that two of today's males were in reasonable condition and the weather has turned fair, I might just get an August 1st Emperor out of Savernake this year...

Elsewhere, a females was seen today in Collingbourne Woods which are about three miles south of Savernake, and a male was seen today in Waterperry Wood, part of Bernwood Forest, Oxon.  

Very soon, someone will record the last Purple Emperor of 2024...

Sun July 21st: Close of Play at Knepp

Walking the Purple Emperor transect at Knepp, for the last time this year. I counted five ancient males. This chap shouldn't have been able to fly, as two-thirds of one wing side were missing, and one third of the other - 

Yet he managed to hold territory and pulverise a Purple Hairstreak. Attitude counts!

Provisional data suggests that this became an 'average' year at Knepp - but after great early season promise, with a near-record count for Week 2 of the season (in fine weather around Midsummer Day). Then, they got clobbered by a sequence of bad weather events.

We've been monitoring Emperors along a 2km single-species transect route at Knepp for nine years. 2024 was definitely better than 2016, 2019 and 2021, but had the fine weather held it might have been as good as 2023 (our second-best year, after the annus mirabilis of 2018). 

Another bout of rain is forecast for Thursday. That will almost certainly end Knepp's season for the year...

Elsewhere, a few Emperors are still going in the more northern parts of the Empire, and at other 'late' sites such as Savernake. The race is on for the last Emperor of the year, though I doubt that will be in August.  

Early signs are that the 'egg lay' is very poor, but more of than anon... 

Sherwood (2)

 A couple of females on Friday 

Tidying up the Blog

 As blog administrator, there's a bit of overdue tidying up which I need to do. 

We currently have over eighty registered authors, of whom, in all honesty, only about half a dozen are active. 

So, once the iris flight season is well and truly over, I'll run a purge of anyone who hasn't posted in the last couple of years. 

If you'd rather you were left on and haven't posted in that time, either post in the next few weeks, or send me an email to let me know you want to stay on board. 

There'll be no change if you want to read the blog, just if you want to post. 

Unfortunately, this year I missed the flight season in the UK due to commitments elsewhere.  

I did, however, manage a quick visit to the Balkans in June, where both ilia and metis seemed more common than iris this year. 

Fortunately I managed to have the camera ready when this briefly popped up.

.

Going Over Fast...

It looks as though our beloved Emperors are going over fast in central southern and south-east England, and may be virtually over in places like Alice Holt Forest, E Hants (especially the males).

Too many adverse weather events... 

They seem to be lingering better in the northern fringes of the Empire - e.g. some good sightings in Heart of England Forest, Warwicks, on July 17th.

I've just spent two days in Savernake Forest, N Wilts, which is normally considered a 'late' site, often producing early August sightings and even the last national sighting of the year. There, I struggled to see five males in a thorough search of the main territories along Three Oak Hills Drive today, though two of them were in quite good condition (NB I saw none at The Column, where everyone goes, but which is only a secondary territory).

I dread to think how bad the 'egg lay' is. Larvae are going to be very hard to find this autumn...

Here's Himself on territory in Savernake's 'Dead Beech Glade' territory today - 

 

Derbyshire Comes Out!

Congrats to Derbyshire for coming out and declaring itself Purple! The correct, Heslopian terminology would, of course, be declaring itself in purpuratum...

A 2-4 day old male was photographed feeding on a driveway in the village of Bretby on July 8th, and reported to Ken Orpe of BC E Mids. Here he is, photo by Sarah Simpkins -

Bretby is to the east of Burton on Trent and is close to the parts of the National Forest that look eminently Purple (the area around Foremark Reservoir and Ticknall looks highly suitable, with sizeable sallow jungles).   

Welcome to the fold, Derbyshire!  

BC E Mids has been running a Sallows for the Purple Emperor project, joint with S Derbys District Council and others.  To date, 600 sallow whips have been planted at over 35 sites, mainly in the south of the county. 

Come on Herefordshire, Devon, Somerset, Shropshire, and others!!! In Purpuratum Docens Mortior...

St Swithin...

At Knepp, the Emperor season is fast fading. I struggled to see six on Sat 13th, before heading home for a while. Neil also struggled to see six at Knepp on Sun 14th, in perfect weather. 

Many territories are now unoccupied there. Males have now stopped sallow searching and are inactive before noon. Surprisingly few females have been seen, and I'm wondering whether many emerged during bad weather and quickly perished... The egg lay isn't going to be high. The Knepp season will be over by July 21st-23rd. 

Here's a female from last Saturday at Knepp, behaving just like a male - it is female, she laid an egg 20 minutes before this photo was taken:

And here's a male, doing likewise -

Elsewhere, I'm beginning to breathe sighs of relief that south Gloucestershire, where I live, is still Purple. The region was only recently colonised (perhaps in the 2018 annus mirabilis) and was clobbered by a severe outbreak of Willow Rust last Aug and Sept - most of the broad-leaved sallows that dominate the district dropped most of their leaves. The good news is that Glos is still purple. Here's a photo (not mine) of one feeding on owl pellets (!!!) in a barn near Cheltenham on July 11th - 

Great to hear of a sighting at Saltwells NNR just SW of Dudley in the West Midlands (W of Brum).  

Generally, numbers do not seem great, but that may simply be due to poor flight season weather - this is an old-fashioned July. 

Today is St Swithun / Swithin's Day, and it's rained most of the day. Last year, we had a fully-fledged gale on St Swithin / -un. Personally, I think St Swithun/-in should be defrocked...

Four of five reasonable days are forecast. My guess is that they will reveal Emperors and Empresses in reasonable numbers in the later-emerging localities...

Fri July 12th : More Grot...

At Knepp, heavy rain around dawn, then a day of lumbering dark clouds, slowly moving down from the north. A few glimmers around 2pm, then more grot... The few patches of blue sky that appeared, had infilled by the time they arrived.

I managed just four Purple Emperors at Knepp, all in good or reasonable condition, but hardly anything was flying - even the Ringlets and Meadow Browns. It was too cool.

Also, Purple Emperors seem to need a UV level of 5 to become active. Today, it was mostly around 2.

Good news from elsewhere: 2 males were behaving badly near Sapperton (of Daneway Banks fame) back in my home parish. That's important news, as most of the sallows in that district dropped many their leaves last August or Sept due to a massive outbreak of Melampsora Willow Rust - and I'd feared that the iris population, which was only discovered in 2020, had been lost.

Also, good news from Savernake, where a pristine male was photographed down on a ride, and three were seen in the favoured Dead Beech Glade (halfway up Three Oak Hills Drive) - 

Also, great to hear that a gang of Emperophiles from BC West Mids have just turned the butterfly up in BC'S Monkwood Reserve, Worcs.

PS  Other bloggers most welcome here! It's not my personal blog. We'd particularly welcome news from counties that don't get mentioned here - e.g. Kent, Norfolk, Lincs...  I seldom have time to trawl around the various websites to find news from elsewhere...

Anyone There?

Apart from Mr O's daily updates from Knepp there has been a distinct lack of tales from others around the Purple Empire. I visited Fermyn on the 8th in the company of JW and we had a pretty good day. If you would like to read my account check out https://blhphotoblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/10/purple-reign/ Learn more about the Emperor who forgot Himself for a moment.

Thurs July 11th: Decimated at Knepp...

Succinctly, as I'm worn out...  Knepp's magnificent Emperors have been clobbered at peak season, by foul & abusive weather. It's an exposed site, and the numpties insist in roosting in treetop sprays - rather than on the sheltered side of oak limbs... Also, I suspect that many / some simply get borne away on windy sunny days, like yesterday - part of their distribution strategy.

Today, I walked the Knepp PE transect. It takes >2 hours and covers 2km. I expected 20-25, down from 45 last week, but saw only 8.

The good news is that PEs are still emerging at Knepp in low numbers - a few females and perhaps even the odd late male. But I suspect that the Knepp flight season wont last much beyond July 21st (they've already been out for 24 days).

Also, and crucially, very soon they will stop flying at Knepp during the mornings and become afternoon butterflies.

Here's a battered survivor, photoed today -

Elsewhere, the season is less far advanced. Males are still coming down to feed on the rides in Fermyn Woods, Northants. 

Everywhere needs a spell of settled fine weather, and doesn't need another wet or windy spell... 

 

Tues 'July' 9th: Rain didn't stop play...

Incredibly, the two Purple Emperor safari groups that ventured out at Knepp in driving drizzle this afternoon both saw Emperors! The butterflies sprang instantly into action in the oak tops whenever a glimmer appeared, prompted into action by the Purple Hairstreak. One group saw six, the other nine. That's how numerous PE is at Knepp, and could be elsewhere if there was more sallow...

The forecast for Thurs is for sunshine and light winds. If it proves correct, the Emperors will go utterly berserk then. Throw a sicky and go Emperoring...

PS How come the French left back is wearing purple football boots?

 

Mon July 8th: More Doom & Gloom, with more forecast...

Today was dire, at least at Knepp: Stygian gloom with just a few glimmers around lunchtime, then spits and spots under increasingly leaden skies. The day's ambition was to rain... 

I did well to see 5 males, who jumped into action the moment a glimmer appeared. 

Purple Emperors are starting to struggle. They're accruing lost time. The females should be busy pumping out eggs, but they're sitting in the thickets waiting for it to brighten, trying to warm up - and the forecast for tomorrow is little better. 

Already it looks as though 2024 will not be a high egg lay year; in fact, it may see a very poor egg lay. That may not be utterly disastrous in the longer run as titmice, Great Tit especially, home in on hibernating larvae when larval numbers are high, but they don't when numbers are low. Swings and roundabouts...

But at least we haven't had a gale (we had one on St Swithun's Day last year, July 15th, which wrote off the 2023 PE season...). The numpties roost in treetop sprays and get shredded by gales, especially nocturnal gales. 

Males have stopped coming down to feed on the tracks at Knepp for the year, and soon they will start taking the mornings off there, and becoming afternoon butterflies.

Elsewhere, good to hear that six males were seen down on the rides in Fermyn Woods this morning, where the season is later.  

 

Sun July 7th: Hey ho, the wind and the rain...

Really difficult Emperoring weather, with cloud, hefty showers and a really irritating wind. It's the wind that does the damage, shredding Emperors at roost in treetop sprays...

At Knepp, numbers remain remarkably high, but activity is being greatly reduced by poor weather. The butterfly is now at peak season here but is struggling to get going - suffering the equivalent of the dreaded 40mph sign on a variable speed limit motorway.

In windy weather, look for Emperors on the sheltered, leeward side, only - even if it's in the shade. That's where they'll be. They hate wind. 

Tomorrow, Monday, is supposed to be calmer and brighter. If it is, they'll go berserk, making up for lost time...

White Admiral seems to be just about fully out now but Silver-washed Fritillary is far from well out (I've only seen males) - 

 

Thurs July 4th: Vote Purple!

 General election day, with the Purple Emperor butterfly poised to take over running the country... I can think of nothing less suitable to run the country...

Rather too windy today, especially for territorial activity.  

I arrived in Savernake just in time to see a male hanging from his pupal case. This was 'Scar', who was found as a third instar larva last autumn and was followed all the way through. He hibernated in this scar, hence the name -

He greened up early, in late winter, and began feeding at the end of March, but then developed slowly as he was on the north-facing side of the sallow. He travelled just 3m to pupate.  Here's his pupal case -

Unfortunately, a gust of wind dislodged him, so he landed on this mossy trunk -

Eventually this happened - 

He was last seen beating up a Purple Hairstreak high up in the treetops.

PE is probably just getting going properly in Savernake, but it was hard to judge from such a windy day.

Elsewhere, more excellence in Abbots Wood Inclosure, Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire.

Wed July 3rd: Cloud & Drizzle

Very little play today, anywhere.  Knepp had just a few short bright spells; Gloucestershire had drizzle all morning, then windblown cloud - before it cleared in the evening...

But sunny spells and bright cloud in East Hampshire brought sallow-searching males out in excellent numbers in the southern part of Alice Holt Forest, with six being seen in a vista and a total of 20 apparent individuals in 20 minutes (per Ashley Whitlock, BC Hants). This is the most seen in a vista and a short time in Alice since the 2009-10 era in Straits Inclosure (then the FC felled most of the ride-side sallows...).

Tomorrow is forecast to be bright and breezy. The Emperors may be seeking to make up for lost time...

Vote Purple early, then go Emperoring...

 

Tues July 2nd: Plagued by Cloud, and Willow Rust

Doings within the Purple Empire were thwarted by mindless cloud today. However -

At Knepp: Males are still emerging (just) and coming down to the tracks to feed (just).

In Alice Holt: Congrats to Mark Tutton for filming a male sallow searching for female pupae. We see quite a bit of this at Knepp - the males don't just search for emerged females, but suss out female pupae too...  

I was on light duties (park & view) locally in Gloucestershire today. It's early days there still, but my fears that last year's severe outbreak of Melampsora Willow Rust has knocked the butterfly right back are starting to be realised. 

Willow Rust particularly afflicts broad-leaved sallows, and is rampant again this summer, seemingly everywhere. At Knepp, the females can lay on the abundant narrow-leaved sallows instead, but in the Stroud to Cirencester area 90% of the sallows are broad-leaved, narrow-leaveds are rare. This time last year they looked like this -  

No female with any sense is going to lay on that!  

More predation observed today in Alice Holt, presumably by thuggish Hobbies - bits of a male found on the ride...

Oates Crashes Out, and the Weather too...

Apols for the lack of postings, but I've had to retreat home, suffering from a severe attack of osteoarthritis of the knee (medical term for something crippling) - at the zenith of a surprisingly good Purple Emperor season.  Can hardly stand, let alone walk - though I can cycle almost ad lib (non weight-bearing): I've done most of the Knepp Emperor season on my trusty ebike.

I'll be back in the saddle ASAP - as soon as NSAID (pills) and gym work (the real answer) kick in. The annoying thing is that I'd got the condition so well under control that I'd got off the NHS operation waiting list and was looking forward to my 20th Mountain Ringlet expedition - then caught a nasty virus (almost certainly in the gym), with arthritis kicking in afterwards, in my 'good' knee...

Worse, the jet stream has jumped south, and the weather has deteriorated...

At Knepp on Sun June 30th: Emperor males were sallow searching frenetically, in numbers, indicating a big emergence of females. Here's Herself drying her wings, having crawled off her pupal case -

She may not get mated until the following day.  

Also, importantly, the oaks are starting to produce the tiny sap bubbles that Emperors love above all other substances (sugar-rich, and probably fermenting). Here's a male feeding on one tiny bleed last Sunday (on Patrick's Tree, for those who know Knepp) -

Once the females are all out and mated, the males will cease to come down to the feed on the tracks at Knepp. A shame, as experiences like this will cease for the year (Neil Hulme, in paradise 24/6/24) -

Emperorial behaviour will worsen as the sugars and alcohol from the oak sap kick in...

Elsewhere, congrats to Mark Tutton for observing Apatura iris in cop in Abbots Wood Inclosure, Alice Holt Forest, yesterday, July 1st. The male found the female over a sallow jungle, by 'sallow searching'; she led him up into the top of a nearby 80' tall oak, and they joined at 1.45pm. Then - wait for it - they mated for over five hours, establishing a new mating duration record!!!  Gentlemen of England, we are outdone - by an insect...  

Also, we have to report two Hobby attacks. At 11.35 on Sun 30th, a fascist Hobby viciously turned on an innocent Emperor who had done the decent thing, and had flown out of the Knepp oak canopy to intercept the intruder - fragments of purple wings gently fluttered down. Then, yesterday, July 1st, the same thing was observed at Bookham's famous Hill Farm Territory by Rob Hill. 

One is armed only with a dazzling iridescence, faultless bravado, and an ego the size of the universe, the other is a vicious predator of insects.  As Filch so aptly puts it in Harry Potter: 'I want to see some punishment...' 

 

Sat June 29th: Purple Haze...

News from Knepp.  I thought they'd go utterly berserk today, as cloud prevented them from doing much yesterday. 

However, I think there was a mass emergence of females today, as many male territories were unoccupied during the afternoon, and many males spent much of the afternoon sallow searching (i.e. hunting for girls in the bushes...). Normally, they sallow search during the mornings, then take up territories during the afternoon - at least until all the females are wedded and bedded, then they take the mornings off. 

Here's a 3-4 day old male that came down to my mixed dung and urine bait ("They mustn't ask us...") -

Elsewhere, delighted to report that Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and Norfolk have now come out and declared themselves in purpuratum for the season.   

The Knepp season remains way ahead of everywhere else...

Tomorrow: Out, the lot of you!  Enjoy...

Fri June 28th: The National Festival of Stratocumulus Cloud

Doings within the Purple Empire today were severely restricted by a near-solid blanket of Stratocumulus Cloud - I'd like to send Stratocumulus Cloud into Room 101.

At Knepp, things started well with this recently emerged male feeding for 20 mins on Lord Knows What on the end of a dead bramble stem 2m up in a hedge -

Thereafter, Emperors erupted in the oaks whenever the cloud cover relented, though the longest break lasted only 15 minutes.  

Males are still emerging there, and the bulk of the female emergence is still to come. The Emperor is rapidly approaching peak season at Knepp, though elsewhere it is still only just getting going. Do visit - for visiting details scroll back to June 18th...

The best male territories at Knepp are marked out with purple posts (we didn't have enough posts for all the territories, so some are marked with purple bunting, and other good viewing places are marked with purple ribbon). This cheeky Red Ad took a fancy to one of the purple posts -

This does look like a genuinely good Emperor year, with glowing reports of large numbers at other sites, including Theberton Woods in Suffolk. Obviously, much depends on the weather from now on.

To the woods, this weekend, the lot of you!

Thurs June 27th: Cold Front Clearing...

Limited activity throughout the Purple Empire today, as most regions were hit by a brisk Moderate to Fresh W wind that sprang up after a dissipating cold front passed (the wind hit Knepp at 3.15, and closed the day down).

Knepp's day's Highlights, where the butterfly is nearly at peak:-

* 4 seriously worked up males hotly pursuing a low-flying White Stork!

* First eggs laid (nationally, in all probability).

* First 'tumbledown' of the season (in which a mated female rejects an unwanted male). 

* A 'ball' of 4 shimmering males flying around one hapless female...

* Male taken by a Kestrel (? first record, ever?).  

* I showed PEs to a group of Naked Ramblers.  

* Males are still coming down to feed on the tracks.  

Elsewhere:-

* First PEs seen in Notts yesterday (just S of Sherwood).

* More seen in Wilts and Worcs.

* None yet in Dorset and Glos, and no records come to light yet from Leics, Lincs and Norfolk.

* The Botany Bay, Chiddingfold Forest, aberration seems to be a particularly nice ab. iolata (which is much rarer nowadays that lugenda).

Overall: this is quite a good PE year, though most sites are only just getting going on most sites (Knepp is romping ahead).  

 

Wed June 26th: Into the Oven...

Heatwave conditions over much of The Purple Empire today.

At Knepp, where the temperature reached 30C and it was almost totally calm, males were fairly quiescent - heat-suppressed - from 2pm, which is unusually early for them to conk out. Apparently, only one was recorded feeding from the ground today. They probably came out to play again from 5.30 till about 7pm, but I finished early.  

Elsewhere, news of an acute aberration (of the ab. lugenda type) has reached us, from Chiddingfold Forest yesterday. Neil Hulme went there today to try to hunt it down... The photo I saw on social media, shows just about the most extreme underside ab. specimen I've ever seen - and I've toured the museums...

This may prove to be a good year for PE aberrations? These seem to be determined by temperature-shock on newly formed pupae (according to Dr Carl Bailey who has bred them). This year, there was a series of cold nights in early June - RAF Benson in SE Oxon recorded minimums of +2C and +1C on June 2nd, 9th and 11th. Fermyn Woods, Northants, has been the place of PE aberrations this century, and may well produce a few this year...

Wiltshire has kicked off - a number of sightings, including groundings, from Bentley Wood today. That means Savernake must have started too - they're in sync.

More sightings around the Greater London area today, but I don't think He's started in Herts yet. 

No sightings yet from the northern counties - Leics, Notts and Lincs, but good to report that 3 pupae were found in an East Leics site last night by scanning for flourescing pupae with UV torches (top work!).

Note that in heatwave conditions PEs (both sexes) sit in deep shade, like this male -

 

Tues June 25th

Briefly as I'm knackered and we've got football -

Knepp: Walked the Knepp PE transect this pm, and totalled 42 including two females (both being avidly courted). That's the second highest Week 2 tally after a mind-blowing 60 in the annus mirabilis year of 2018, and beating 37 in 2023.  Three females seen, the first recorded nationally (I think).  Very few males coming down to the tracks today though, but seriously good Violence in the territories from 1pm to 4pm.  

Elsewhere: At last Alice Holt, Hants, has kicked off - late for Alice.  Importantly, Fermyn Woods and a S Northants wood started today.  Also, Threberton Woods, Suffolk; Brandon Wood, Coventry; Tiddlesley Wood, Worcs.  

Right, football...

Midsummer Day...

Surprisingly big emergence at Knepp today. This is proving to be a much better year there than I'd anticipated.  

At last Bookham Common, Leatherhead, kicks off - sightings today! Still no sightings in Alice Holt Forest, Hants, but it must be imminent there.

Fermyn Woods should start very soon, perhaps tomorrow or Wed.  

Still very little progress generally. It's just that Knepp is racing ahead...

Here's a pristine male from today, feeding on organic cow pat - 

 

Sun 23rd: Doings...

 The Purple Emperor season is starting to get going...

At Knepp, today saw the first decent emergence - after a week of ones and twos. Males have started descending to the tracks: one yesterday, three pristine males feeding on shrimp paste baits today. I only managed to see about 12 males in all, but it was too cloudy for much of the time and they were only active intermittently.  

Elsewhere, the first male was seen in Bernwood Forest, Oxon / Bucks, yesterday; one was seen in Oversley Wood, Warwicks, today; Essex kicked off today, and the butterfly has also been seen in Epping Forest. 

Still none yet in Alice Holt Forest, Hants, and no news from Bookham Common, Surrey, which is an 'early' site.  Odd. 

Sorry for lack of pics but Blogger wont let me post any...

Follow me on Twitter on @MatthewOates76 

 

To the Woods, all of you...

The weather is at last set fair, and this weekend should see Purple Emperors start to emerge in numbers down south.

To date, the butterfly has only been seen at three sites: a scatter of males at Knepp in W Sussex - but no big emergence there yet; a report of one from Chilworth just south-east of Guildford, and a male today in one of the Epping Forest territories. 

These sightings may result from a scatter of early-developing larvae that managed to pupate before the weather fell badly apart in late May - and the bulk of larvae then got stuck in the entomological equivalent of a full motorway closure.

We shall see, but great Emperor seasons erupt - and this one ain't erupting...

To the woods, the lot of you: find that Emperor... 

Emperoring at Knepp 2024

Knepp Castle Estate is looking forward to welcoming Purple Emperor visitors again this season.  In addition to running its hugely successful Purple Emperor Safaris (11^th glorious season, but now fully booked!), Knepp will be welcoming Purple visitors along a set route that runs through many of the best spots.  Viewing points will be clearly marked out, particularly for male territories (occupied in afternoons only).

 The starting point is the new car park (+ shop, café & restaurant) at Swallows Farm just off the A24 at Dial Post.   Pick up a Purple Emperor Trial leaflet from there, and follow the set route.  Note that it takes a little while to get into Emperoring country, involves a long walk and will take the best part of a day.  Cake awaits you at the end.

Places to linger are marked on the trial leaflet, and on site with purple ribbon and bunting, and hopefully with arrowed posts.  These highlight male territories, which males occupy during each afternoon of suitable weather, and sallow areas where females can be seen and where males search for females in mornings during the first half of the season.

Note that Emperors are distributed by wind, and gather out of the wind.  East-facing wood edges are good in westerly winds, and vice versa.  Never look for Emperors on the windward side, they will have drifted leeward, even if that’s the shady side!

The Purple Emperor season at Knepp began on June 17^th, and should finish around July 23^rd – depending on the weather.  The last week of June should be the best week.’

 Note also that males take the mornings off during the last third of the flight season, so don’t visit for Emperors during the mornings after July 10^th.

 Volunteer helpers will be on site to facilitate visits, and there will be a Purple Emperor Information Centre trailer parked up along Green Lane, which is where most of the best male territories are.

Looking forward to meeting you. Come for the day…

We're Off!

Welcome to the 2024 Purple Emperor season!

Two males were seen this afternoon at Knepp Wildland, W Sussex, by myself and six others. It turned out that the prediction I made on June 4th was only 26 hours out - not bad, considering how bloody awful the weather's been... This is not an easy season to predict.

My guess is that a few Sussex larvae managed to pupate in good weather around May 20th or 21st, or possibly during a spell of reasonable weather around May 24th or 25th. Then the weather got really nasty... Some of those 'early bird' larvae went on to produce adults now. 

However, the bulk of the national emergence may be some time off, and it may be that there's an unusually protracted emergence this year.

We'll see... So much in the Purple world is speculation...  I don't think most sites will start for a while yet, and it will be interesting to see when the next record comes in, and when the butterfly starts in the northern reaches of the Empire.

Sorry, I can't post a picture as the wretched thing wont let me...

PS  Four males were seen here on Tues 18th, but it was too cloudy for much of the afternoon.

PPS  I'm away from Knepp for a few days, High Browning on Exmoor...

 

 

Delayed Start...

Looks like I got that wrong... (see last post)...

A large area of low pressure is anchored over  Britain, prevented from moving away by blocking highs. Very few midsummer butterflies are going to emerge in the current temperatures, especially those that pupate in trees (as opposed to warm microclimate niches at ground level).  

The 2024 Emperor season is, in effect, suffering from the entomological equivalent of a full motorway closure...

Once the weather improves, Emperors will need two or three genuinely warm days before they start to emerge. Their season is now unlikely to start before Thurs 20th.  

However, hope springs eternal, and I will look this Sunday, the 16th, if the weather looks suitable that day...

The bad news is that the longer this poor weather lasts, and the longer the insect is trapped in the vulnerable pupal stage, the fewer Emperors will fly - due to predation of pupae by unknown predators.

Watch this space...

Predicted Start

The first Purple Emperor of 2024 will be seen on June 16th, probably in the early afternoon.  

That will be in the Sussex - Surrey - South London region, where the season commences earlier (or NW Kent, if anyone looks there).  In other regions, the butterfly wont start much before June 23rd.  

Please note that I once got one of these annual predictions spot on!!!

Peak season period will encompass the last five or six days of June and the first week of July.  

Do not bother looking after July 23rd, except in the northern reaches of the Empire and at known late-flying sites.

Adult numbers could be high, given that winter survival rates were relatively good and, crucially, that the weather during the bulk of the pupal period looks to be set fair - but much depends on flight season weather.   

Watch this space...  

Contact me if you want to join the PE WhatsApp group, of avid Emperor watchers and studiers (though please note that it is not a photographers group, though many of us also take photos): matthew@matthew-oates.co.uk  

   

Mid-June Kick Off

The prospects for a record-breaking early Purple Emperor season have faded, due to indifferent May weather. Moreover, the outlook for the next two weeks isn't hot and dry, though it is better for the Southeast, where the Emperor season invariably begins.

Emperor larvae are currently starting to pupate (a few may have already done so in Sussex, Surrey and Kent), but the pupation and pupal processes this year are likely to be drawn out by relatively low temperatures and spells of rain.

At this range, we are on for a mid-June start in Sussex and Surrey, though an earlier start remains possible.

Some midsummer species are, though, still on for very early flight seasons, having jumped the gun in early spring (notably White-letter Hairstreak but probably also some of the Browns.

Here's my captive PE larva, 'Mr Tumnus' - only it looks like he's successfully transitioned to 'Miss Tumnus'...

Coming soon: Visiting Knepp in '24 

 

The 2024 Purple Emperor Season...

Since my last post, in mid-April, Emperor larvae have been slowed down by adverse weather: a 12-day cold spell in late April, and then the wet start to May. Sadly, then, He should not be on the wing in May this year... 

One larva I've been following closely spent nine days skin changing to L4 (4th instar) in late April, but then only three days changing to L5 (5th & final instar) during the warm second week of May. 

That one is, though, is a late developer. This spring, we may well have had some final instar larvae in April, in the warm Sussex / Surrey region. 

As things stand, the 2024 Purple Emperor season is likely to start during the second week of June, probably around the 10th (Sussex, Surrey). 

But that is weather dependent - a hot second half of May and a fine start to June could yet see 2024 establish a new record for the earliest UK PE (currently, the date of the official all-time earliest definite PE is 10/6/1893, followed closely by 11/6/2011 and 11/6/2017).  

Conversely, if the second half of May is grotty, and June starts poorly, PEs may not begin before mid-June. They can get stuck for ages pupating, and then get stuck in the pupal stage during cool or wet weather... 

Watch This Space, an early Emperor season is still on the cards. I will tip you off when it's time. Whatever, do not plan on going Emperoring after July 21st this year, they'll be gone.

Finally, we run an inner sanctum of Emperor research workers on WhatsApp (the People of Purple Persuasion WhatsApp group, 55 members). Do please email me if you want to join (though we are not a photographers group, and are fairly extreme - several of us only work the larvae! Email matthew@matthew-oates.co.uk).  We particularly need someone from Kent...

  

Early Season Warning!

I know this sounds silly, after such a miserably wet winter and early spring, but the Purple Emperor is likely to be on the wing ridiculously early this year, quite possibly at the end of May...

Larvae came out of hibernation and commenced feeding unusually early, having suffered only relatively low predation rates.

Fourth instar larvae were recorded in Sussex in early April. That's unprecedented. Fourth instar was recorded in Notts, at the northern end of the known Empire, in mid-April.  

Purple Emperor larvae can shoot through the 4th instar, when the weather's dry - and a big anticyclone is (at last) setting in...

Of course, cold and/or wet weather can slow 5th instar larvae right down, but if the May weather behaves, expect this butterfly to be flying by its end, or at the very start of June.

Watch this space!

 

And They're Off!

Purple Emperor larvae have begun feeding unprecedentedly early.  Some in West Sussex were probably feeding in mid-March, and certainly during the three days of balmy weather around the Spring Equinox.

Some larvae were also feeding before the end of March in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, and probably in Nottinghamshire too.  

These first meals were through 'bud biting' - eating the tip of a loosening leaf bud, usually the terminal bud. This is a new phenomenon, something PE larvae have only started doing these last five years or so - seemingly in response to sallows leafing earlier at the back end of mild winters.  

Here's 'Jadis Queen of Charn', photoed near Lambourn, Oxon, on April 1st. The bud tip has clearly been bitten - 

and here's a well-bitten leaf bud, photoed in Savernake Forest, Wilts, on March 25th -

This suggests that 2024 could see an unusually early PE season, but only if it stops raining (larvae can get stuck for ages skin changing and, especially, pupating in wet weather)...

The other big news is that Winter Bird Predation Rates were Unusually Low, despite high populations of Great Tit and Blue Tit, the assumed main avian predators. We don't have the final figures yet, but it looks as though losses were only in the region of 50% - and some of those were to other causes, this larva here had probably been sucked by a predatory invertebrate -

Fingers crossed, but 2024 could see a good or even very good PE season, weather permitting. Watch this space...  

Finally, here's a classic PE breeding ground: an East to West ride in the northern part of Sherwood Forest, Notts, photoed on March 19th.  Tall but thinned pines to the south and west provide shade from intense sun and shelter from the wind (for egg-laying females), and most of the sallows are young, just starting to flower fully - 

 

Greening Up...

Iris larvae are greening up, already. Most of the 11 larvae I checked in Savernake yesterday were between 20% and 30% green, two were more like 50%. Here's three of them - 

Normally, they're that green in mid to late March, so they are running about four weeks early - for now.

The forest sallows are less advanced, though many roadside sallows around Swindon and the Cotswold Water Park are well in bloom, males and the later-flowering females. One sallow along the A419 at Kingsdown (which is Purple) on the east edge of Swindon is quite well in leaf - any larvae on it might well be feeding.  

One of these years iris will be on the wing in Brexit Britain before the end of May...

Winter predation levels remain within the 'normal' range.

2023-24 Winter News...

Purple Emperor larvae are about halfway through their five month hibernation. Most hibernate by buds or in forks.

A few hibernate in scars or on lichenised branches - 

They are quite heavily predated during this period, and this winter seems to be no exception. Great Tit seems to be the main culprit. Certainly, when tit numbers are high, Emperor larvae get clobbered. Heaviest losses occur during the late winter period. So we are just entering the main danger time...

Tit numbers are currently very high (even RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch data suggests this...), despite poor weather during the breeding season last year. Blue and Great Tits are everywhere in the woods, though as yet they are not roaming around in sizeable flocks.

Larval losses seem to be following the normal pattern - I lost two in a week in Savernake at the end of January, to assumed bird predation. All that remains is the vacated silk pad, like this -

In addition, I seem to have lost two to invertebrate predation - some sucking bug, that pierces the larval skin and sucks out the contents. Like this - 

This seems to be a phenomenon of modern mild winters...

Whatever, some larvae will survive and thrive, and we will have a Purple Emperor season during 2024. 

This is my 60th year of butterflying, the Purple Emperor entered my life back in June 1964...  So it's party time...

Also, and more importantly, Notes and Views of the Purple Emperor was published sixty years ago, in 1964.  Here's a photo of the lead author, IRP Heslop, with his 37' 'high net', and his van.