Purple Emperor News

Camouflage

Ali stood still for 15 minutes!

Hibernating larvae

• 115 sightings in 16 woods (almost twice as many as last summer); of course, 115 sightings does not mean 115 individuals
• the peak was from the 3rd to the 10th July; 1st sighting on 27/6 by the lady who lives in the gamekeeper's cottage in Boarstall wood (she has an enormous advantage over the rest of us !)
• Woods in the Chiltern; this is looking better and better; a newly investigated wood (Penley) produced a female on the 18th, and two were seen in Wendover wood on 12th July
• two 'small woods' in Oxfordshire [about 13 hectares each], where the first sightings [for these woods] had been made last year, came up trumps: 25 sightings have been made here; in one of these, a superb, small, territory was discovered, where frequent activity could be monitored almost every day
• Black Park, just north of Slough; last year, we did not have anybody looking in this part of our region; this summer some local 'birders' joined in the quest for the Emperor and came up trumps.
• In two of our 'flat' woods (Waterperry and Grendon/Doddershall), we could not confirm any territories
• in Finemere Wood, which has some nice high points, no obvious territory could be confirmed

Good numbers of Purple Emperor are being seen at woodlands across our region. Males have been observed carrying out their aerial territorial battles as well as providing excellent low level views. In recent days females have been seen laying on sallow.

Please keep Dennis Dell (Purple Emperor champion for Upper Thames branch) informed of any sightings you might have: dennis.dell3ATbtopenworld.com

4th July 2005

Purple Emperor 'Master Tree' Project
Progress Report 2004
Matthew Oates, Liz Goodyear, Andrew Middleton and Ken Willmott
PDF version
- a must read for all Royal followers - includes techniques on identifying territories

29^th June - Robin Dryden went for a stroll around the north end of Black Park today. “Butterflies were most notable, with abundant Meadow Brown, several Large Skipper, Comma, Red Admiral and Small White as well. White Admirals are abundant this year, far more than last year. The first Purple Hairstreaks were showing yesterday. However, the undoubted highlight was my first ever Purple Emperor. A male, feeding on salts on the path between Pinewood Studios and Five Points. The flight was very different from White Admiral, with much longer glides. It also looked larger with a different wing shape. I watched it for the next five minutes, down to about two metres distance and saw the dazzling purple sheen, orange circles and beautiful under-wing. It then flew off into the wood.”

PURPLE EMPEROR (Apatura iris):
PREPARATION FOR THE 2005 SEASON

One of the difficulties in writing a short article like this, is how to pitch it? We have a very wide spectrum of experience within the UT branch, so some of it will be ‘old hat’ to many of you, and I apologize for this in advance. However, for those of you who have not yet made acquaintance with this magnificent insect, referred to from now on as  ‘iris’, for brevity’s sake, I hope you will find this informative.

The following is a summary of last season’s report, to give you a taste of what you might expect. The objectives for this season will then be discussed.

2004 Season

• The poor weather for most of the first two weeks of July, which included gales and torrential downpours and subsequent cloudy days greatly affected the numbers seen.  Males were especially hard hit.  In effect, this was a poor Purple Emperor  season, though it started promisingly. 
• About 66 individual specimens were seen by 14  observers in  the following woods: Oakley, Shabbington, Waterperry, Whitecross Green, Boarstall, Chinkwell, Little, Piddington, Rushbeds, Finemere, Grendon, Greatsea, Warburg reserve, and Greenham Common.. The sightings in  Piddington, Little, and Chinkwell  are new records for the species. There was one garden observation.  This, according to Matthew Oates, is a very small number, considering the number of observers and the number of woods visited.
• Three  territories/assembly areas were confirmed (in Oakley Wood car park area, at Drunkard’s Corner, Waterperry, and in Finemere Wood ), and  possible new  territories were identified in: Shabbington, Piddington, Little, Greatsea, Chinkwell, Boarstall and  Whitecross Green Woods. Apart from Finemere and Drunkard’s Corner, all of these territories are at the highest points in the woods.
• The first specimen (male) was seen on June 29^th, and the last on July 31st. The best day was July 6^th, when a remarkable 22 specimens were sighted. This is mainly because the most experienced observer, Matthew Oates, visited five woods on that day.  He tells me that he would have seen about three times as many on this day in prime territory further south, such as Alice Holt Forest. Taking out this extraordinary day, the observations were fairly evenly spread over the whole period. 

Firstly, it is important to discuss the behaviour and characteristics of iris, which distinguish it from most other species.

• Nectar  from flowers is very rarely a source of sustenance
• It  feeds from animal faeces, damp patches, and salty deposits on stones in woodland rides; it almost certainly also feeds on dried-up honeydew secretions from aphids on Oak and Ash leaves (as do most of the Hairstreaks)
• It spends most of its time high up in deciduous trees, Oak and Ash being favourites, but certainly not to the exclusion of other trees (Poplar and Hornbeam are also well- liked)
• Early in the flight season (last week in June, first week in July), particularly, males may be seen grounding in woodland rides, often for minutes on end, feeding as described above; this provides wonderful photo opportunities!
• Females are more difficult to encounter; they appear after the males, generally distinguishable from the latter by 1) their greater size and 2) the lack of the purple sheen on the uppersides
• The females may be seen flying at lower trajectory than the males, often around the larval foodplant (Sallow, Salix caprea)
• It used to be written that the males favour particular trees at high points in woods, and will assemble around the tops of these trees from about midday onwards
• There is increasing evidence (work of Ken Willmott and Matthew Oates) that groups of trees at high points, rather than single trees, are favoured. These are referred to as ‘male territories’ or ‘male assembly points’
• In woods with no obvious high points, the males will often seek out the tallest trees; a very good example of this is the  three parallel lines of tall Poplars just inside the wood at Drunkard’s Corner in Waterperry wood

So what would we like to achieve this summer?
The first thing to say is, the more people who are out there looking, the more observations we will make, and the better we will understand iris’s behaviour.
We had 14 people looking intensively last summer, and it would be great if even more pairs of eyes could be trained up at the tree canopies!
You need a lot of patience: iris might well be in a tree, basking on a leaf high up, you have been staring at for 20 minutes, and you don’t realise it, because it does not take to the wing; in sunny weather, you have a better chance of seeing it, because, typically, it will ‘rest’ on a leaf for a few minutes then suddenly take to the wing, maybe to engage in aerial combat with another male, before alighting again after only a 30 seconds or one minute flight. Binoculars are indispensable; if you are very lucky, you will see the tell-tale sign of a pair of antennae protruding out from the edge of a leaf high up.

We do not believe that iris is an endangered species; however, that is no reason to be complacent!  When we find iris in a privately owned wood (assuming, of course, that we have obtained entry permission), it is important to inform the owner, preferably through the official channels of our branch (our Chairman, David Redhead, is the best channel of communication).  The insect is present in many of the woods in our region, I’m pleased to say, and several of these are either BBOWT woods, or belong to Forestry Enterprise, or the Woodland Trust. All these bodies should receive reports of all our observations at the season’s end, with management recommendations. Again, such reports would either be written by or channelled through UT branch’s committee.

We want to confirm the possible assembly areas of last summer, and, of course, try to find new territories. Because this species is so elusive, it is extremely difficult to get more than ‘a feel’ for the population in a wood.  It is fairly clear that the numbers in our region are not as high as in some of the ‘classic’ localities in Surrey, Hampshire, and Sussex; these counties are regarded as the ‘headquarters’ of iris.
I have already contacted most of last year’s helpers, and for those of you who have not yet been involved and would like to come on board, please contact me very soon.
It may be difficult to achieve, but I would like to divide up all the helpers evenly between the various woods we want to investigate.
Obviously, the nearer the wood to where you live, the more convenient it would be for you to visit several times during the next 5-6 weeks (the season is more or less over by the end of the 1^st week in August, but it might go on a bit longer this year).
The areas which we did not cover last year were North Bucks and Berkshire; the latter should be particularly fruitful, because there are many large woods in that county.

Let’s hear from you !

Of course, I’m ready to (try to) answer any questions you may have.

Dennis Dell
UTB Purple Emperor Champion
email dennis.dell3ATbtopenworld.com
(alter AT to @)

Key

• emergence is a bit later in the UTB compared with Surrey and Hampshire
• the season will be a bit later than last year