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...
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