Lingering Late...

Purple Emperor larvae are lingering late this autumn, as are the sallow leaves. 

This photo was taken in Savernake Forest on Sunday November 30th. It shows a larva still in its October resting position on a leaf tip -

This is the UK's latest recorded observation of a PE larva still on a feeding leaf and not either in hibernation or crawling off to hibernation. 

Incredibly, this larva was feeding here into early November. It is  unprecedented for larvae to be feeding in November (I observed three larvae feeding at the start of November this year). 

Also, a number of larvae have recently changed hibernation position, mainly from buds to forks or twig scars. This happens in mild autumns, usually when larvae feel over-exposed.  

Here's one neatly hidden in a twig scar, taken on Nov 30th - 

And here's one by a bud, again photoed on Nov 30th (note the green sallow leaf background) -

This was a very mild (if wet) autumn, with the first frosts not arriving in The Empire until the night of Nov 17-18th. Many sallows have stayed decidedly green, like this one photoed in NW Wiltshire on Nov 27th -

Some sallows may still be in green leaf at Christmas! Or even perhaps at New Year...

This has impacted on the Dangle Leaf season. In particular, many feeding leaves used in October are still attached by the petiole, meaning that they are not dangling prominently on silk strands. They may or may not dangle now, but there's a chance that some new dangles may yet appear, perhaps as late as Christmas. Much depends on the weather...

PE Distribution Map 1960-2025

 Here's a still photo of Martin Partridge's map of PE records 1960-2025, derived from BC / UKBMS data. Much of Norfolk is mysteriously missing from the video version previously published (with apols to Martin and Norfolk)!  

Autumn Larvae in Savernake Forest

For the last seventeen years standardised counts of autumn larvae have been conducted in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire. Here's the data - 

 

The table shows that autumn larval numbers mostly bumble along at a low ebb, but erupt spectacularly in good summers. These eruptions are highlighted in purple. 2025 was one of them.  It may well have been better than the data suggest, so don't take the data too literally - it merely shows trends.

The work is based on the assumption that the females lay a comparable percentage of eggs within reach each year, though there is no actual evidence for this either way... (searching is done from the ground only, using a shepherd's crook and binoculars - anything else would require a risk assessment the size of War and Peace). 

What's missing here is annual assessment of the quantity and quality of the sallow resource. These are not easy to quantify, particularly foliage quality (e.g. many of the Forest's sallows were afflicted by Melampsora Willow Rust during the wet summers of 2023 and 2024). 

Suffice it that the number of sallows in the Forest fluctuates considerably but is generally in decline, due to increasing squirrel damage ('bark stripping'), ride trimming (which renders many sallows unsearchable by removing lower limbs) and random felling during timber harvesting. 

Also, Savernake is not on particularly 'sallowiferous' soils, lying mainly on Clay with Flints of varying thickness overlying chalk. There has a paucity of sallow regeneration since the early 2000s.  

Remarkable Changes in iris distribution since 1960

This video makes clear how distribution has changed over the last sixty-five years, illustrating how much more of England is now "Purple"!

Mapped by Martin Partridge in Yorkshire. 

Best Dangle Leaf + 'pillar Photo Ever!

Check this out! Definitive photo of an Emperor cattie in hibernation by a bud, with the old feeding leaves dangling close by. 

Congrats to Mark Tutton for taking this photo, in Straits Inclosure, Alice Holt Forest, Hampshire, 11/11/25.   

 

PS 1) that catterpillar will change colour to match its background, and may well move position in this mild weather; 2) those dangles will soon blow or wash off!  

Dangle Leaf Update

The 2025 Dangle Leaf Season is now underway, though it is being delayed and hampered by unusually mild weather.

The impacts of mild November weather are:- 

1) most broader-leaved sallows remain green, with larvae lingering on the leaves, or being hard to find in hibernation because of the amount of leafage; 

2) in mild weather larvae can wander far and wide whilst seeking a hibernation spot (many wanderers seem to get predated, but this is hard to prove or disprove). 

In Savernake Forest yesterday, one nice broad-leaved sallow was completely bare of leaves and had already gone through the dangle leaf phase, just 2-3 sallows were in prime Dangle Leaf condition (having shed about 75% of their leaves), but the vast majority of broad-leaved sallows were still in green leaf. The narrow-leaved sallows (Rusty Sallow-types mainly) were more advanced, but there aren't many of these in Sav. One narrow-leaved was in prime Dangle Leaf condition, and revealed 5 larvae.  

Of 25 larvae seen, 14 were still on the leaf, though most of these were ready to quit; 10 were in hibernation, by buds or in forks or twig scars; one was wandering about. 

Several more known larvae were listed as Missing In Action, but may yet be found. We also found a few dangles without being able to locate the larva, which had wandered off.

Every autumn I pray for cold weather in early November, to encourage larvae to crawl just a few centimetres from their vacated feeding leaves before conking out... but every early November, it's mild (ridiculously so this year)...

Here's one of yesterday's larvae in hibernation on a twig scar - 

And here's a pair of classic Dangle Leaves, + silk - 

  

A Guide to Dangle Leafing

The 2025 Dangle Leaf Season will shortly start! We used to dread November: not anymore! Bring it on! After the flight season, it's the best time of the Emperoring year.  

'Dangle Leaf' is by far the easiest way of finding any of the immature stages of the Purple Emperor. Indeed, it is often easier than detecting the territorial males. 

Text first, then piccies.  

1  During the autumn, PE larvae strengthen the petiole join of their seat leaf and feeding leaves with copious amounts of silk (after the 1st instar, PE larvae are serial spinners of silk). 

2  Larvae then vacate the browning leaves, and wander off into hibernation (the odd one tries to hibernate on the leaf). 

3  The petiole join then breaks, but the silk prevents the leaf from falling to the ground.

4  Instead, vacated seat leaves and feeding leaves stay attached to the twig stem for an indeterminate period - depending on windiness, rainfall and the amount of silk. 

5  Most 'dangles' last for about a week, but in well-sheltered situations (e.g. stream gullies, sallows along thicket-stage conifer plantations) they can persist for a few weeks. One gale, let alone a named storm, and most blow off.  Very few survive till Christmas.  

6  However, there are 'early', 'mainstream' and 'late' leaf-fall sallows - the latter often staying green into December. Much depends upon the arrival of frost, and the intensity of the summer or autumn (traditionally, in the Purple Empire, the first frost used to occur around Bonfire Night). 

7  The 'early' leaf-fall sallows will be ready for Dangle Leafing very soon.  

8  This year, the main Dangle Leaf period is likely to start in mid-November and end in early December - but much depends on the weather.  

9  The 2025 Dangle Leaf season could be MEGA, because larvae are present in unusually high numbers this autumn (despite high mortality rates amongst young larvae in the July and August heatwaves). 

10  To practise Dangle Leaf, you'll need a hooked stick (ideally a shepherd's crook) and a pair of binoculars, and patience. Those who spent their youth fishing are well placed to go Dangling. 

11  In good light, wander the woods, inspecting sallows which have dropped 50% to 75% of their leaves, looking for bronzed or (usually) deep-brown leaves spinning gently in the breeze. On still days, give the sallow a tap, and watch for spinning leaves. Windy days are difficult, with too much leaf movement.

12  Usually, you'll need 2-3 minutes per tree. This means that Dangle Leafing enables you to cover a lot of ground.

13  But, beware of false prophets: leaves spinning on a thread of brown broken stem, leaves attached by spider silk (rare this autumn) or tangled with white feathers.  

14  A true Dangle Leaf is diagnostic of Apatura iris. No other UK Lepidopteron does this. An experienced Dangler can tick off a new location by merely spotting a good dangle, without finding the larva. 

15  However, the hibernating larva can usually be found within 2m of a Dangle Leaf cluster. Most are aligned alongside middle-sized buds, or in forks. Occasionally, they hunker down in a bark scar. They very rarely venture into fissured bark. Seemingly, many get predated whilst crawling about prior to conking out, so don't worry too much if you can't find the 'pillar (look again in spring).  

16  Ideally, repeat visits over a 2-3 week period, to locate early and late larvae and dangles.

17  Tell nosy parkers you're looking for biodiversity (they'll leave fast).

18  Forget sallow taxonomy, the Empress speaks a different language to our botanists. Sallows which offer(ed) mid-green foliage are favoured.  This autumn, most larvae are on sallows with a shaded south-facing aspect (tall trees to the immediate south).

19  Most larvae and dangles are annoyingly just out of reach! Hence the need for binoculars.

20  Warning. This is addictive.

A classic Dangle Leaf cluster, plus silk - 

Dangles can consist of a single leaf -

These are old feeding leaves, with irisian eating marks - 

Beware of false prophets. This is not iris: far too much silk, and the leaf is uneaten (spider silk probably) - 

A few larvae conk out for a while on their old leaf, then move to a stem later -

Cue dancing dryads, singing -

            "This is Dangle Leaf!  This is Dangle Leaf! 

            Sallow leaves spinning in the autumn breeze...".

Enjoy!

    

UPDATED 3/11/2025  We checked 22 larvae in Savernake on Sun Nov 2nd. Only two were definitely in hibernation, with a third in pre-hibernation (off leaf, but will move again) and a fourth wandering about prior to conking out (NOTE in mild weather, they can wander for hours and for many metres, with many vanishing without trace...). 

Most larvae were nearly fully coloured up, soon to quit the leaf - so they'll be a mass exodus into hibernation there this week.  There's a but coming up...

BUT, only one sallow was ready for Dangle Leaf (ca 75% bare). The vast majority were still very green indeed.

SO, unless we get a sudden frost (the longer range weather forecasts are picking up signs of colder weather from mid-November) the Dangle Leaf Season is likely to start late this year, perhaps peaking in the last week of December.

Watch this space... 

Colouring Up!

Purple Emperor larvae are now beginning to colour up prior to hibernation.  The process usually takes 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather. Most are only just starting, and are 10-15% coloured, like this one (Savernake, Oct 18th):- 

This one, also on Oct 18th, was way ahead of the others, at about 50% coloured-up, though on a sallow which was still fully green:-

Some larvae, though, have only recently changed to the 3rd instar (L3 stage). This one changed on Oct 11th - surprisingly late for such an 'early' year. The cast skin and head are clearly visible:- 

There's a lot of Sallow Leaf Mildew around this autumn, following the wet September. Emperor larvae seem to be able to cope with it:- 

 

L3 Larvae

Here's a couple of recent photos of 3rd instar larvae. They're feeding up well, after having been checked by four wet weeks.

Those wet weeks (172mm of much-needed rain in my gauge between Aug 27th and Sept 20th) means that we will not be seeing any second brood adults this autumn! But dream on - all things are for the best with this the best of all possible butterflies...

 Expansion of iris in the north

This map is the work of Martin Partridge, the Yorkshire chair. The data was provided by Stephen Mathers, Ken Orpe, and Richard Jeffery.

South Derbyshire became purple for the first time in 2024, with more squares recorded in the south in 2025, and, particularly, several new sightings in the north-east of the county this year: the latter sightings are not very far from the established localities in Sherwood Forest. 

The Yorkshire sightings are very exciting: all of them except one from the coast near Scarborough [2024]  are from 2025. The map indicates how widespread these sightings were over this huge county, suggesting that they were not the result of releases. 

Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire remain strongholds. 

1st Instar Failure...

Although Empresses dispersed far and wide this season, and laid a vast number of eggs, a great many of the resultant larvae perished early in their journey through caterpillarhood.

Yes, you did read that word, caterpillarhood. Please help it blossom into the English language.

We are finding an unprecedentedly high number of what we call 'L1 Fails'; 

i.e. leaves bearing the tell-tale signs of 1st instar PE larvae, but no 'pillar - the small but distinctive silk seat pad on a leaf tip, plus the characteristic eating marks either side of a midrib isthmus; and if you want to be absolutely certain, the shiny remains of an egg case base close by. 

This is what L1 Fails look like - 

I'd accept either of those leaves as 100% iris, even from a new locality or county (the bottom one also has a gall imitating a Puss moth egg, for fun). 

However, if you want to be 110% sure, then find the egg case base (ECB for short, though that also stands for England & Wales Cricket Board). Here's a shiny ECB just to the right of the midrib, above early 1st instar eating and seat pad (an 'Early L1 Fail') -

In Savernake, where ca 150 egg lay sprays have been found, in the region of two-thirds to three-quarters of the young larvae perished - either to predation or excessive heat. The record is ten L1 Fails on one sallow there!

Most seem to have failed in the first instar, but some failed early in the second instar (and a few eggs failed, either through being sucked by predatory invertebrates or by desiccation). 

I doubt that predation was particularly high this July & August, not least because social wasp populations crashed in mid-July - but this is only speculation, we do not know.

In other heatwaves years, notably 1976 and 2018, many L1 larvae perished. 

The good news is that there is still a large number of larvae around, and that they are relatively easy to find. 

Now that the autumn rains have arrived with a vengeance (just like they did in '76...), the chances of any second brood individuals appearing in the wild are receding fast.  

Here's a deceased Early L1 larva (photo per colleague Gary) - 

Here's a deceased Early L2 larva. It had either desiccated in the July heat or been sucked by a predatory invertebrate - 

Onward, knowing that all things are for the best with this the best of all possible butterflies!

 

Monumental Celebrations

Our government - i.e. the Knepp Wildland Purple Emperor population - has decreed that monuments should be erected or repurposed throughout the land in celebration of the 2025 Purple Emperor season. To this effect, what was once known as the Albert Memorial, a nineteenth century excrescence somewhere in London, has now been rededicated as The 2025 Iris Memorial - 

Skin Changing!

Am rather chuffed with this pic of a wild cattie finishing changing skin to L3. The cast skin is bottom right of his tail end, the horns from his cast head are above the new head (15 seconds later they fell off). Imagine getting a new head!

The whole process took just one minute, at 2.52pm on Sat Aug 22nd, near Lambourn, temp. ca 23C, with the 'pillar in sunshine. There was a lot of head waving at first.

S/he will wear that skin and head until April...    

 

Larval Numbers: Update

Although the 'egg lay' has been huge (i.e. the females weren't sitting around watching daytime TV and painting their fingernails, but have laid a lot of eggs), it is clear that there has been an unusually high mortality rate amongst 1st instar (= baby) larvae.

In and around Savernake, and elsewhere, we have recorded a 1st instar mortality rate of about two-thirds, from a decent sample.  

This means we are finding a lot of 'L1 Fails'; i.e. single leaves bearing the distinctive feeding marks close to or, better, either side of an end-of-leaf larval silk pad + isthmus. Like this - 

Here's one with the egg case (by my thumb, the vacant seat pad is to the right, and has shrivelled) -

Often, the seat pads aren't that distinctive, or the feeding isn't, in which case you need to find the egg case base (or ECB for short) to be sure. 

I have not recorded a higher loss rate amongst L1 (1st instar) larvae, though L1 losses were high in the thundery heat of 1976. 

It looks as though a great many of them succumbed to the heat, and desiccated. Some, though, will have been predated, though invertebrate predator numbers seem to be relatively low, again due to the heat (I can't monitor invertebrate predators, it's too difficult). E.g. social wasp numbers crashed in mid-July.  

We have even lost some early 2nd instar larva to assumed heat desiccation. I have not recorded this before, though Dennis Dell has in Switzerland, which is prone to hotter weather. 

However, we haven't lost any young larvae to heavy rain wash-off, which happened in 2018, and even in 1976. We haven't had any thunderstorms. (L1 larvae are vulnerable to thunderstorms).

All this may mean that predation by titmice during the winter may be lower than it would have been...

Here's what we like to find, a healthy L2 (2nd instar) 'pillar -

I have also recorded Savernake's earliest ever 3rd instar larva (L3), on August 14th.  

Finally, sallow foliage quality is wonderfully high this year, without any of the Willow Rust which rampaged throughout the western reaches of the Empire during 2023 and 24, and hardly any Sallow Mildew (another problem, in damp summers). 

This does mean, though, that there's an awful lot of foliage to be searched...

Onward, towards the 2026 Purple Emperor season!

Excerpt from Oates' Diary: Sun June 29th 2025

Knepp - 

Bentons Gorse W Side: Rosemary’s Tree 5.10 – 6.55.  Big and overdue session here, and a deeply memorable one.  I needed to make up for missing out on the teenage jackdaw-chasing episode here last Friday, which had Neil and Kat rolling around in laughter (several Emperors terrorising a flock of young 'daws).  I did make up, and with Neil. 

Things started off with a brace of males sapping on a low horizontal SW side oak branch, and 2-3 others flying about higher up, and deteriorated nicely from there. 

5.20.  A female panicked after failing to shake off 2 over-amorous males through a tumbledown, and hurtled off south along the oak edge, zig-zagging and alternating high and low.  Eventually they went off squabbling and she escaped.  I wouldn’t like to be a female Purple Emperor…

Then, a vista of five males in the air at once, all oak edging separately. 

5.27.  Six in a vista.  3 males feeding well apart on the favoured horizontal bough, plus two males mucking about and another trying to come in to feed.

5.30.  4 males feeding separately on the favoured branch, 3 in perfect condition, one frayed. 

5.44.  Female on the feeding bough, plus 3 males and a Red Admiral, but problems with hornets. 

6pm.  Seven males in a vista around Rosemary’s Tree. 

6.03.  Six males feeding along a 3m length of bough. 

6.05.  Ten in a vista!  8 males feeding loosely along the branch length, two in flight nearby, plus a Purple Hairstreak and the hive bee-mimic hoverfly Brachypalpus laphriformis feeding on sap bleeds.   

6.20.  OMG!  A fresh (Neil thought female) Large Tortoiseshell flew in through the tree, to settle and display on the barkless dead branch rising vertically off the main feeder branch.  We both managed to get token photos before it got disturbed by hornets and was then chased off south along the oak line by two irate Emperors.   When were Purple Emperors and Large Tortoiseshells last seen interacting together in Britain? 

6.25.  Excellent tumbledown involving a fresh but mated female and two Andrew Tate males. 

6.40.  Female being hotly pursued around Rosemary’s Tree by 6-7 males, but they were too frenetic to count.  Then things went quiet. 

6.55 – 7.05.  When leaving, I counted 22 males along the whole quarter mile west edge of Bentons Gorse. 

Ambition: we want people to be able to have similar experiences with this butterfly all over England, and Wales, and Scotland. 

 The Northern situation

Records from a  number of new localities were received, reflecting the good season all over the country.

Derbyshire

Three new sites in the south, and five new sites in the north-east. The latter are particularly interesting: all with about 10 miles of each other; probably due to expansion from Sherwood forest: a few miles to the east.

Nottinghamshire

Two new localities. The existing habitats: Sherwood Forest, Cotgrave Wood, and Wellow Wood had higher numbers than usual.

Leicestershire

This is the best of the northern counties, with colonies in 11 localities, most within the National Forest area. Three new new habitats were discovered, the most notable being the Queen Elisabeth diamond jubilee wood.

Lincolnshire

Chambers Farm Wood is the best locality in this county, and 2025 was no exception, with the earliest sighting ever recorded here: June 18th. The species is spreading to the other neighbouring Bardney Limewoods: in psarticular, four were seen in a wood near Wragby. 

The Emperor has existed in some of the woods in the south of the county for a long time. Morkery Wood is probably the best, with the highest number for one day this year being ten. Neighbouring Twyford Wood also did well, where nine were seen on 27/6. 

Yorkshire

This county gave the most exciting results. Up until now, just a handful of sightings in the south of the county had been recorded in 2016 and 2022. This year, we had three sightings from the middle of the county: at Sprotborough Nature reserve; near Guisborough; and at Askham Bryan College. 

Tues July 29th: Egg Predation

Here's a completely empty egg. It has probably been sucked by a predatory invertebrate armed with a piercer, though I couldn't see a hole when I looked at it under the microscope. It has 13 ribs, by the way. Terrible things happen to caterpillars, and eggs...

Sun July 27th: 2025 'Egg Lay' = Stupendous

A highly positive session in one of the key breeding areas of Savernake Forest yesterday. A gang of three found 24 larvae, three eggs and a few instances of predated / lost larvae.  11 were found on one tree. Larvae will be followed in situ.

One of the eggs may well have been laid on Sat 26th (certainly no earlier than Fri 25th) - 

So, there may be the odd female still at work in Savernake.  

Larvae were a mix of late 1st instars (some skin changing) and early 2nd instars. Here's a skin changing L1, note the diagnostic yellow 'collar' -

Here's an early L2 larva, showing the distinctive feeding marks and the midrib isthmus which larvae try to defend against invertebrate predators (or possibly desiccated in the heat) - 

But many succumb to predation, especially L1s. This Early L2 larva has probably been sucked by a sucking bug -

Onward! 

 

Fri July 25th: Stumps Drawn...

It took me several days to recover from the utterly stupendous Knepp Purple Emperor season. For a week I felt like Ben Stokes after back-to-back test matches (you need to know your cricket quite well to understand this, but it means extreme enknackerment...).

Today, I managed to make it to Savernake Forest, which regularly produces late sightings, in time to see my last of the year - a worn, frayed and woefully inactive male in the infamous Dead Beech Glade. At 3pm, as Joe Root reached his century at Old Trafford, he rose to the challenge of seeing off a Stock Dove. At that point I drew stumps. Here he is, small and dead centre, wings outspread - 

BUT, given the advanced state of larvae - there are 3rd instar larvae in Sussex, already - there is a chance that a few 2nd brood adults will emerge in the early to mid- autumn, if the long hot summer continues. Watch this space, and burn the butterfly books (the Emperor's already burnt mine)...

Better still, it looks as though the 'egg lay' has been massive. I have been conducting standardised counts of autumn larvae in Savernake since 2009, and suspect that 2025 will prove to be the best year in a run of 17 years. Today, I was finding larvae at the rate of one per 11 minutes - that's mega. Most were 1st instars on leaf tips, like this -

This will be the autumn to look for new colonies, in new districts and new counties. Top of my personal hit list is the Forest of Dean. Bring on the autumn Dangle Leaf Season, and keep following this Blog - this Emperor year is far from done.  

 

Sun July 20th: Update, Herefordshire Comes Out!

I've been hors de combat, having imbibed too much fermenting oak sap, and have also been away at a family gathering in Cornwall (my branch of the Oates family emanates from Perranwell & Frogpool).  

Whatever, the tail end of the 2025 Emperor season stumbles on.  The great news is that Purple Emperor has been found in woodland near Ledbury, which means that Herefordshire is Purple (as I've long suspected).  

Also, we have another sighting from Yorkshire, this time from just west of York. These are not wedding release sightings, though they may be casual release of bred specimens. Yorkshire to decide for itself (as in, 'You can always tell a Yorkshireman, but you can't tell 'im very much...'). 

Lancashire, you're in trouble: the White Rose is becoming Purple. Send for Wallace & Gromit...

Meanwhile, four Emperors were seen at Knepp yesterday, Sat 19th, including two females on an oak sap 'feeder tree', one of which was in good condition. 

Back in Savernake, we had 2nd instar larvae before mid-July (and Sav is a 'late' site). That means there's a chance of some wild second brood individuals being seen in early autumn, perhaps especially at Knepp, but if and only if the fine weather continues into August and September. 

Watch this space, a new story is unfurling... 

This Blog functions all year round, and because we have - for the first time since 2018 - a big 'egg lay year', there should be a lot of larvae to be found this autumn, including in new districts. The coming 'Dangle Leaf Season' could be mega...

   

 

Mon July 14th: Closing Time at Knepp...

Saw my last Knepp Emperors of 2025 today. It was hard work. No males, but I watched five females sap feeding during the late morning, notably this one who is in remarkably good condition (the others were worn and ragged) - 

From 12.45, one by one they ceased feeding and flew off to do some serious work - egg laying. 

The 'egg lay' this year should be very high indeed, though that tends to lead to high autumn and winter predation rates...

There's another week or ten days left to the season at later sites, like Savernake, but I'm sure there wont be any August sightings this year. There may, though, be some second brood sightings in October, if the warm weather continues...

Intrigued by a confirmed sighting of a male in a garden in Guisborough, just SE of Middlesborough (and just in N Yorks) on July 11th, next to Guisborough Woods. Such sightings tend to be put down as 'releases', or possibly as Butterfly Confetti at weddings, but please don't underestimate the Purple Emperor butterfly: He seeks nothing less than temperate world domination...

Also, good to see several Dark Crimson Underwings feeding on the Emperor's sap runs yesterday and today. It's a class insect.

 

Sun July 13th: Going Over Fast...

The season is ending fast at Knepp. I walked Week 5 of the Knepp PE transect this afternoon. I expected 5-6 but struggled to see a single female. Part of the problem is that the 'feeder trees' (sap-producing oaks) have all dried up along the route, and the Emperors have moved elsewhere, to where the sap is. Normally, the PE season here lasts into Week 6.  

All the males I'm seeing here are in their last hours, though there are still a few fairly fresh-looking females around, the odd one of which will linger on for maybe another week. Here's the best of today's females - 

Imagine this: the Purple Emperor season ending in mid-July. That's what's happening now. 

What do you do when the party's over?

Find another party! Will the Clouded Yellow please show up... ... ... 

Sat July The Glorious 12th

Back into the fiery furnace, at Knepp, in 30 Celsius (anyone having problems with this heat, just say the magic word, 'January'. Problem solved). Managed to see some 36 Emperors and Empresses, including 20 females - and I wasn't butterflying for much of the afternoon.

One male and two females were in reasonable condition, the rest were worn and torn - seeing out their days feeding on oak sap. Here's a female (upper) and a male (lower) feeding close by, at high noon today - 

All bar one of the 36 I saw were on or around oak 'feeder trees'. The exception was a middle aged male on territory, having a bad time dealing with a very stroppy immigrant Painted Lady male. Grey pilgrim Lady males are the only butterfly that can mix it with Emperors on territory, but home grown ladies don't exhibit that behaviour at all. Here's today's brave Horatio holding forth in one of the top Emperor territories - 

Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt Week 5 of the Knepp Purple Emperor transect. I hope to get into double figures, but everything depends on the number of feeder trees along the route.

Fri July 11th: Doings in Gloucestershire

This is the first female I've ever seen in Gloucestershire, and she was in my own parish too - 

She was one of two females, and a male, seen feeding this hot afternoon on a classic diseased oak feeder tree, along the lane between Sapperton and Frampton Mansell, above the River Frome valley (near Daneway Banks on the butterflying map) -

Interesting, no males have been active on the nearby lime trees territories lately - nationally, they seem to have forsaken the territories for feeder trees in this heat.

Best of all, I can reveal that a magnificent male has visited The Daneway Inn pub at the foot of Daneway Banks large blue reserve - and smashed things up there.

There is only one Lord of the Butterflies, and He does not share power...

Back to Knepp tomorrow...