Purple Emperor larvae are developing steadily, and seem to be in 'average' numbers this early autumn.
They are bang on time, and are not showing any inclination towards second-brooding, despite the blazing hot August (we don't particularly want them to waste themselves by producing second brood individuals).
Yesterday, in Savernake Forest, half the larvae seen were in late L2 stage, whilst the other half had recently changed to L3 (in which they will remain until next spring). Here's a classic early 3rd instar larva (what we call EL3):-
Sallow foliage conditions are variable, but in general the sallows held up remarkably well through the heatwave summer. Sallow dieback has been noted on the clays, particularly on the Weald and Gault clays in the South East, with dying sallows reported in Alice Holt Forest. The sallow fields at Knepp are heavily droughted, though those along the water courses there seem OK. It looks as if we've just got away with it, but await more evidence...
Finally, here's a rather poor photo of my 2000th find:-
Take a fresh guard, and bat on...
