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January

The Appendices in Heslop, Hyde and Stockley contain some gems - here's one of my favourites:

"My first two (iris) were caught in Sussex on the very banks of the A272: which has remained for me the highway of the Emperor's world, virtually from Salisbury nearly to Robertsbridge, and which really deserves to be the subject of a special article."

My own interest is perhaps stimulated by the fact that I was born just two miles south of the A272, and shared with MO many happy hours of hunting just a few hundred yards to the north of it, including the legendary "Grimbling's Meadow" of which more perhaps on another occasion.

But a special article? The Emperor's Highway - a Study of the A272 and its Entomological Implications? First off the press gets front page on the website! Who's game?

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February

"Someone once asked me to define "big game". I replied that in my view, Big Game involved all such beasts of the chase regarding the circumstances of the bagging of each individual of which one could recollect every particular. By this token the Purple Emperor butterfly is the big game of the butterfly world. And I can recall every moment of the successful chase thereof, as I can of those of each Elephant or Buffalo, for example that I have ever shot."

I.R.P Heslop, September 1953

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March

The Emperor is known to vacate and reoccupy his tenements with complete unpredicatability. Indeed, that glorious paragraph in Fox, Asher, Brereton, Roy and Warren; "While the absence of records for a decade or more might reasonably be regarded as colony extinction for most butterfly species, the same cannot be assumed for the Purple Emperor."

But for a strong flyer, recolonisation would appear to be less of a task than for less mobile species. Consider the Large Blue arion that disappeared from Somerset iabout 1880, only to reappear, albeit briefly, between 1945 and 1949. Unless the records were from an area that was contigious with the North Devon localities, it's difficult to even hypothesise a mechanism by which this might take place for a species with such specific requirements. Successful human intervention seems unlikely.

Order from Chaos - the Master Tree Project Reports have been collated and are now available as a single download on the FAQ page.

Something a little different!

His Majesty is renowned for his somewhat unsavoury table manners. Here, his cousin the Lesser Purple Emperor similarly 'lets himself down' by imbibing condensate from the wall of the 'hommes', beside a French autoroute. Photographed by my brother (Mark) in July 2007. Neil Hulme

Here's a fascinating document - the list of the first subscribers for "Notes and Views.."

Some familiar names, some less familiar. My own copy is inscribed "R.Tyler". Nice of the Baxters to buy a copy each - or perhaps they weren't on speaking terms!

Note that Russwurm called his house "Coridon", while G.H.B. Oliver went for "Corydon". Or perhaps he just misspelt "Croydon" ! And shouldn't it have been lower case coridon? Shame on you, Russwurm - you of all people should have known better.

And Mr Takakura of Japanese broadcaster NHK? A precursor of Matthew's Mr Murata? What is it with the Japanese and Apatura?

Another piece of idle silliness. Superimpose Heslop's hand-drawn distribution map "Distribution as about 1945-1950" over the map in Fox, Asher et al,2005 and after a bit of correction for Heslop's non-standard projection, you get something like the image below - the green being Heslop's distribution (or rather Heslop's description of iris' distribution at the time).

So - the Wye and Severn valleys have been lost, plus Gloucestershire/Somerset. East Anglia - probably the part of the country I know least, what's happened here, habitat loss? - but note the recent stray at Kings Lynn - are we still looking? Isle of Wight - presumably Parkhurst Forest., now gone.

The central belt still largely intact, although withdrawn from Lincolnshire, and Kent just hanging on?

But the interesting thing is the reticence about the Surrey heartlands, and Hertfordshire. Did they miss these core habitats, are they recent colonisations, or was Heslop just being coy in an age when collectors from London were insatiable?

Look at it this way. Baron de Worms could, and probably did, walk to the Bookham Common location from his home at Woking (see above). Heslop and the Baron communicated regularly (Matthew?). It seems scarcely credible that he hadn't worked those key locations, but entirely probable that he would have kept quiet about them, had he discovered iris.

Or were these areas really not part of the Empire back in the immediate post-war years?

Any thoughts?

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April

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May

Neil Hulme's location near Arundel reveals two iris larva in final instar on a large and isolated sallow, where a female seen laying last season. Although large (4-5cm), still extremely difficult to detect on the caprea leaf.

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June

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July

Suffolk Biological Records Centre 23rd November, 2005

Purple Emperor Release at Theberton Woods

During July 2005, the Purple Emperor, Apatura iris, was noted flying in Theberton Woods (TM4265) as a result of unauthorised releases made there over a period of years. At the suggestion of English Nature, this note advises Suffolk Biological Records Centre of such detail as is available.

The wood is owned and managed by the Forestry Commission, but prior to 2005, had not been the subject of special monitoring by Butterfly Conservation or the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society. It is a mixed woodland with plenty of mature sallow (the larval foodplant of A. iris), and has been left unharvested for some years. Although it is small, it is not far from Minsmere, in an area with plenty of sallow along drainage channels and other woods within easy flying distance.

The butterflies were released by John Quinn, who has provided the following information:

Adult butterflies taken from a private wood near West Grinstead provided stock from which he has been breeding for some years. An initial release of some 20 adults was attempted in 1999, but was unsuccessful. In 2001, 15 males and 15 females, some of which had been hand-paired, were released in Theberton Woods, and this time they appeared to breed successfully, and were seen in the following years. A few more were released in 2004, at a time when there had not been any sightings that season. In 2005, both males and females were seen in good numbers. It is believed that these had bred successfully from those introduced previously. Later in the flight season, a further release of 5 males and 5 females was conducted, but these insects had not been paired in captivity.

Neither the landowners (Forestry Commission) nor English Nature were consulted; the releases were an individual initiative, and were not given any publicity until the butterflies were seen by informed visitors in July 2005.

Whether the population will survive is a matter for conjecture. The habitat is suitable though small in scale, and the butterfly appears to have recovered territory lost elsewhere in the country, so it is at least possible that they will flourish. A single adult was the subject of a casual observation at Minsmere in 2005, and there is scope for the use of a wider area than just Theberton. In any event, voluntary butterfly recorders will be watching the site, and it should be possible to monitor the strength of the poulation in future seasons. Although some egg-laying behaviour was noted by females in 2005, no eggs were subsequently found, and the nature of the wood makes a wider search a needle in the haystack job.

On the subject of the legality of such re-introduction attempts, it is worth recording here the advice from English Nature on this specific release:

"There is nothing illegal in this and deliberate introductions have probably been happening for the past 150 years. In a piece of work a decade or more ago it was discovered that the major population of at least one butterfly species in every county in the south of England was the result of a known introduction."

"My advice is not to worry about these introductions. If the site is suitable, the species will survive, if not then it will die out anyway. I am increasingly convinced that colonies only survive by continual re-invasion of new genetic material. If a colony is truly isolated, it will die out in about five years. We have procedures to follow for introductions into SSSIs and I would hope that such projects would be closely monitored so that we can learn a lot about the animal's requirements, even if the intro is not successful. This is where amateur introductions let us down. No one learns anything of use to future conservation efforts."

Notwithstanding the above, it is also noted that the re-introduction did not meet the criteria that would have been set by Butterfly Conservation, had that organisation been consulted. Although the receptor site is not a SSSI, it is not a former Purple Emperor locality, and the landowner’s consent was not sought.

The Forestry Officer responsible for Theberton (Simon Leatherdale) is aware of the importance of the sallow, and intends that future management of the wood will not be to the detriment of A. iris’ chances of survival. Whether further releases will be conducted is out of the hands of the County Butterfly Recorder. However, any such releases would confuse the issue, and monitoring effort will not be meaningful unless the 2005 population is now left to fend for themselves for 5 years or more. Most people involved hope that the colony will flourish; time will tell.

R. Parker, Conservation Officer (Suffolk Branch)

Copies to:

English Nature (Patrick Robinson)

Forestry Commission (Simon Leatherdale)

Butterfly Conservation (Head Office)

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August

Ac primum silici scintillam excudit Achates, succepitque ignem foliis, atque arida circum nutrimenta dedit, rapuitque in fomite flammam. Tum Cererem corruptam undis Cerealiaque arma expediunt fessi rerum, frugesque receptas et torrere parant flammis et frangere saxo.

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September

Interea magno misceri murmure pontum, emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus, et imis stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus; et alto prospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda.

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October

Disiectam Aeneae, toto videt aequore classem, fluctibus oppressos Troas caelique ruina, nec latuere doli fratrem Iunonis et irae. Eurum ad se Zephyrumque vocat, dehinc talia fatur.

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November

Defessi Aeneadae, quae proxima litora, cursu contendunt petere, et Libyae vertuntur ad oras. Est in secessu longo locus: insula portum efficit obilto frangitur inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos. Hinc atque hinc vastae rupes geminique minantur in caelum scopuli, quorum sub vertice late aequora tuta

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December

Ac veluti magno in populo cum saepe coorta est seditio, saevitque animis ignobile volgus, iamque faces et saxa volant---furor arma ministrat; tum, pietate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quem conspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant; ille regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet,---sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor, aequora postquam prospiciens genitor caeloque invectus aperto flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo.