A Visit From His Majesty
Last week Jono discovered something wonderful here at Watatunga – a male Purple Emperor butterfly, the second largest and one of the rarest butterflies in the UK. Not to be outdone, Julian spotted another a day later!
The photos the team managed to take on their phones really don’t do this incredible insect justice, males have a vibrant purple sheen when sunlight catches their black wings, giving rise to it’s nickname of His Majesty. Females, whilst lacking the purple colouring, are equally impressive. Like in Jono and Julian’s case, most close encounters occur when it comes down to feed on sap runs or, in the case of the male, animal droppings, carrion or moist ground that provide much-needed salts and minerals. Below is Julian’s photo.
This magnificent butterfly flies high in the tree-tops of well-wooded landscapes in central-southern England where it feeds on aphid honeydew and tree sap. The adults are extremely elusive and occur at low densities over large areas.
The Purple Emperor declined steadily during the twentieth century and is now restricted to some of the larger woods in southern England so to see them here at Watatunga is a real thrill and testament to our land management and conservation practices.
Eggs are laid on a wide range of trees, with willow being the preference.
The photo above was taken by Jono,on Sunday 19th June which is very early for Purple Emperors, however there have been many late June reports across the south this year, possibly due to the warm Spring and early Summer.
There is a single generation each year, adults are on the wing for a short period in July and August and we are hoping these sightings could be the start of something special over the coming years, particularly as there are incredibly few colonies in Norfolk.
Organisations such as Butterfly Conservation record and monitor populations and habits of all butterflies, and you can record sightings and observations on their website to help understand as much as we can about these magnificent butterflies and help protect them for the future.
