Post by nomad on Dec 21, 2012 7:27:02 GMT -8
Hi Everyone
The Purple Emperor or Apatura iris has long held a intense fascination with British Entomologists. There has even been a book devoted to this one butterfly, that was published in 1962 and called, The Notes and Views of the Purple Emperor by a ex big game hunter, I.R.P. Heslop. Today there is even website [www.thepurpleempire.com] dedicated to this butterfly, which is run by a leading British lepidopterist, Matthew Oates. This website has the most wonderful Apatura iris images which includes many rare aberrations.
This species was much prized by British collectors, being very beautiful and very elusive, mainly keeping to the tops of oak trees. However between the hours of nine and eleven, males will visit puddles or even dog turds to extract minerals. This is said to have a chemical reaction within the male which then gives off a pheromon, which makes the suitor more desirable to the female. Early collectors even placed dead animals in woodland rides to lure the butterfly.
Every July, I make for a ancient royal hunting forest in England called Savernake. Although Britain has a rather impoverished butterfly fauna, it still has some lovely butterflies. I never tire of seeing Purple Emperors skimming across the glades or flying around the top of the trees with their wings turning purple as the sun catches their wings.
In Savernake, I make for a large clearing at the highest part of the forest. Here the Apatura iris males have a strange way of getting their minerals. In the middle of this clearing is a huge limestone monument, which is known as the column. In the morning male Purple Emperors visit the column to ingest the mineral rich moisture which oozes from the damp limestone. I have seen up to five of these butterflies visiting the monument at the same time. I am not sure if this strange phenomena has been observed elsewhere. More rarely I have seen Vanessa atalanta and Argynnis paphia also doing this here.
The Purple Emperor or Apatura iris has long held a intense fascination with British Entomologists. There has even been a book devoted to this one butterfly, that was published in 1962 and called, The Notes and Views of the Purple Emperor by a ex big game hunter, I.R.P. Heslop. Today there is even website [www.thepurpleempire.com] dedicated to this butterfly, which is run by a leading British lepidopterist, Matthew Oates. This website has the most wonderful Apatura iris images which includes many rare aberrations.
This species was much prized by British collectors, being very beautiful and very elusive, mainly keeping to the tops of oak trees. However between the hours of nine and eleven, males will visit puddles or even dog turds to extract minerals. This is said to have a chemical reaction within the male which then gives off a pheromon, which makes the suitor more desirable to the female. Early collectors even placed dead animals in woodland rides to lure the butterfly.
Every July, I make for a ancient royal hunting forest in England called Savernake. Although Britain has a rather impoverished butterfly fauna, it still has some lovely butterflies. I never tire of seeing Purple Emperors skimming across the glades or flying around the top of the trees with their wings turning purple as the sun catches their wings.
In Savernake, I make for a large clearing at the highest part of the forest. Here the Apatura iris males have a strange way of getting their minerals. In the middle of this clearing is a huge limestone monument, which is known as the column. In the morning male Purple Emperors visit the column to ingest the mineral rich moisture which oozes from the damp limestone. I have seen up to five of these butterflies visiting the monument at the same time. I am not sure if this strange phenomena has been observed elsewhere. More rarely I have seen Vanessa atalanta and Argynnis paphia also doing this here.
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