Early Autumn Larvae: Not Good News...

My first post for a while... (I've been hors de combat). 

Incredibly, it seems that I topped and tailed the 2024 flight season: I know of no adult records subsequent to mine on Aug 11th, nationally...  

It looks as though larvae are in low or very low numbers this early autumn, though I'm only just getting into the swing of looking for them. I've had a big session in Savernake, and have looked in Cirencester Park Woods and at Lambourn (the latter two sites only support very small populations).  

Bad news: None so far at Cirencester and Lambourn, and a big session yesterday in Savernake (3 searchers, totalling 14 hours of actual foliage searching) produced only one mid-2nd instar larva and a 1st instar fail + egg case base. Here's the one we found, showing distinctive feeding marks on a classic midgreen soft matt leaf - 

One major breeding area in Sav drew a total blank, suggesting that Herself hadn't wandered there. 

The main problem at all three of my study sites is finding suitable foliage: sallows in exposed or open situations are heavily infested by Melampsora Willow Rust, and / or are too thick-leaved (because the sallows came into leaf ridiculously early), and many overhung sallows are heavily coated in Sallow Mildew (which proliferates in wet autumns). 

Sallow foliage quality is, fortunately, quite high in shady situations. So there is Hope... 

Here's a Tree Damsel Bug Himacerus apterus, found on sallow in Sav yesterday. This is a serial killer of caterpillars and persona non grata on sallows (I translocated it onto a birch tree, and told it to Go and Sin No More)... 

   

Sun Aug 11th: Last Post in Savernake

Checked the best territories in south Savernake today. Just this one male, in reasonable condition, in the Dead Beech Glade for 40 mins either side of 3 O'clock. Then, realising he was all alone at the party, with not even a bumblebee to chase, he drifted off and away... 

Sat Aug 10th -Still Flying in Glos!!!

The most worn and faded Emperor I've ever seen was smashing things up this afternoon at Sapperton, W of Cirencester, Glos - a faded pinky-yellow in colour, rather like a very worn migrant Painted Lady. The wind prevented me from photographing him.  At one point he eviscerated a high-flying Large White.   

Aug 8th - female in Norfolk & another Derbys Sighting

 Drizzle leading to heavy rain in Glos today, which could end the PE season there - we'll find out tomorrow...

Meanwhile, a female was photoed near Cromer in Norfolk today, and a second Derbyshire sighting has come to light - a female feeding on a trackway on July 18th near Aston on Trent, SE of Derby.

Wed Aug 7th: Apatura iris versus a bat...

Today is my birthday, and also that of Emma Grundy in Radio 4's The Archers. I am seven. I set off somewhat speculatively for Savernake in indifferent weather, but arrived there in sunshine and managed to see two Emperors smashing things up before the sun went, and Stygian gloom descended, and deepened.

It got so dull that at 3pm a bat started batting about, a Noctule I think, high up in the best of the known Savernake territories, the Dead Beech Glade. Of course, a hidden Emperor went for it - I had no idea that there was a male there.

I don't know of any other records of Apatura iris pursuing a bat, but all things are possible with this the best of all possible butterflies...

This may well be an excellent way for the 2024 season to finish, though I suspect there's a few days left at Savernake. 

Emperors have the habit of doing something particularly ridiculous at precisely 3pm (at Knepp you can set your clock by it). This habit has given rise to the term, 'the 3 O'clock Emperor'...  

 

50 up!

Purple Emperor still on the wing today at Sapperton in Gloucestershire. That means He's been on the wing in England now for 50 days this year, and I've got to work out when and if He's ever clocked up the 50 before... 

Here He is, atop a wobbly Ash tree - 

Sixty Years On...

The Purple Emperor came into my life sixty years ago, at a beastly prep school in W Sussex where boys were beastly to each other. 

Butterfly and moth collecting was an official school hobby, led by an petrifying Maths master called Jonah. 

Emperors were rumoured to be in the landscape, but we weren't allowed out into it, on pain of death, so the Emperor was but a dream. 

We left the bathroom lights on all night, and propped the windows open, turning it into a walk-in moth trap. At 7am there was a scramble to bag the night's catch. Hawk moths, in particular, could be traded for what we craved for most - sweets. Peach Blossom was the commonest moth.

There I read BB's (Denys Watkins-Pitchford) paean to the Edwardian rural idyll Brendon Chase, in June 1964. 

It tells of the adventures of three boys who can't face going back to boreding skool (syn boarding school) at the end of the Easter hols, and run away to the forest, to live off the land for a summer and autumn. They have the most wonderful Gaian adventures.

Watkins-Pitchford was the original Emperorophile, and the Emperor flits in and out of the tale, as a dream which suddenly becomes real - when this happens to one of the boys - 

'And then ... he saw it, quite suddenly he saw it, the glorious regal insect of his dreams!'

'It was flying towards him down the ride and it settled for a moment on a leaf. Then, as he advanced, trembling with excitement, it soared heavenwards to the top of an oak. There he watched it, flitting round one of the topmost sprays far out of reach, mocking him, the Unattainable, the Jewel, the King of butterflies!'

That paragraph, and its build-up and continuum, was life changing for 9-year old me...

Buy the book and read the rest yourself. It's a story that couldn't be written, let alone published today. Interestingly, Watkins-Pitchford wrote it before he'd seen his first Emperor, when the butterfly was still a dream.

Armed with a pink shrimping net and a copy of The Observers Book of British Butterflies (+ the Larger Moths), I spent late July and August 1964 scouring south-west Somerset for the Purple Emperor, turning up Marbled White, Comma and Clouded Yellow instead. A Hard Days Night was top of the pops, and the sun shone. 

Coming soon, a tribute to Notes & View of the Purple Emperor, published 60 years ago...

Sun August 4th: Day 48...

The riot at Sapperton continued today, with this thug in charge -

There's a few days left in him, fingers crossed...

Also, a very battered male seen down on the ride today in Alice Holt Forest, Hants, the first there for some time.  But none in Savernake, Wilts, and PE seems to have finished in the Bernwood Forest area, Bucks / Oxon and in the Epping Forest and Hatfield Forest areas, Essex.  Four individuals were seen in Leicestershire on Friday.  

Will we make it to Day 50???

Riot at Sapperton!

The 2024 Purple Emperor season is now heading towards its 50th day nationally. One male on territory at Sapperton, Glos (between Cirencester and Stroud) this afternoon. Then, as patchy cloud cleared, a second male came in, and a courting pair of Red Ads. A riot ensued. I called the Police and made my escape...  Here's the dominant male -

Meanwhile, three males were seen at the Dead Beech Glade in Savernake Forest, Wilts, fighting.  

This Emperor season is now in Extra Time...

Into August!

The 2024 Purple Emperor season lingers on... This male was on territory near Sapperton, Glos (<1 mile from Daneway Banks, of large blue fame - though it's actually Purple, there's a minor PE territory in the Bank's NW corner) - 

He was in a classic sheltered high point canopy gap territory - 

The most seen there at a time last year was four, this year's maximum is two.

For the record, I have now seen iris in the wild in the UK for 181 consecutive months. That's what obsession looks like... Don't go there...

Also today, females were seen in Bernwood Forest, Bucks/Oxon, and at Knepp in W Sussex - 45 days after the first sighting there!

However, severe thundery deluges hit Oxon, N Wilts, Hants etc. late in the day (but not Sapperton). That would end the season in affected sites.  

Tues July 30th: Last Sighting at Knepp?

One torn and worn male seen flying low near Patrick's Tree at Knepp this afternoon, possibly the last of the year there. The flight season at Knepp is now in its seventh week, having commenced on June 17th. This demonstrates the extended flight season that larger populations of all butterfly species have.

Provisional transect data from Knepp indicates that this was an 'average' season there, though it would have been as good as 2023 had the weather behaved better.

Here's Patrick's Tree, it's a favoured 'feeder tree' -

Stroud Comes Out!

Delighted to see a male smashing things up (including a Common Darter dragonfly) high up over limes above the gates to Rodborough Fort, Stroud, Gloucestershire, this afternoon, SO 850040. He wasn't very visible, and this was a neckache job - 

Rodborough Fort was lived in by Tom Bainbrigge Fletcher (1878-1950) who gave Rodborough Common to the National tRust in 1937. He was an ace entomologist, a specialist in micro Lepidoptera. After serving as Naval Paymaster he was appointed - wait for it - Imperial Entomologist in India for the Raj, the best job title ever. He would be so pleased to have iris bossing things about over his gate...

Here's the map - 

There are sallows in the copse surrounding the Fort (the area is not shown as wooded on the map), but it is quite possible that males are hill-topping there, coming up from sallows lining the Stroud Canal to the north and east. Those sallows need searching for larvae...

When I moved to Gloucestershire (my father's home county) in 1992, I never dreamed that iris would follow me there. But he has, and now he's taken over my main Glos heartland...

Also today, 3 males and a female seen at Knepp, and a few more at Waterperry Wood, Bernwood Forest, Bucks/Oxon, and a very worn female on the ground at Chambers Farm Woods, Lincs.  They're still going, at least high up and very locally...

 

Cannock Chase

 After our first encounter with his Imperial Majesty on Cannock Chase on the 15th July 2021, and 3 years of endless searching with only a few distant sightings, we were graced with his presence once again on the 23rd July this year when he glided out of the Sallows and shared our company once again, long enough for us to get some pictures.... 

The Broads Outed!!!

Three million cheers! - to quote Arthur Ransome's infamous Captain Nancy Blackett (of Amazon's fame) - the Norfolk Broads have finally come out and declared themselves Purple. Liz Goodyear saw a female crossing Hoveton Little Broad today. 

This is Butterfly Sighting of the Year 2024 (the fact that Liz was taking part in a sailing race at the time is secondary)... The realisation of my dream of watching Apatura iris versus Papilio machaon britannicus (males) has taken a big step forward.

Elsewhere, four males were seen today at Knepp, W Sussex, including three together (around an oak sap feeder tree), and 2 males and a female near Bicester in Oxon.    

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