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Sunday 22 April 2018

An Emperor Day.

On Thursday I was really pleased to find my first ever male Emperor Moth without the help of a pheromone lure or a virgin female Emperor. I was walking up a slope at the far end of my local patch when I saw it on the bank drying its wings. I managed 3 quick shots before it flew off at pace. A really beautiful sight, and as ever with this species, one wonders why more at not seen as they are quite spectacular, not rare and quite large!!



Male Emperor Moth newly emerged.


On the walk before this point I had seen my first confirmed Large White of the year as well as several Green-veined Whites including a mating pair.



Mating Green-veined Whites.

Speckled Wood numbers have also suddenly increased with several seen throughout the walk.



Male Speckled Wood.

Once home my first Holly Blue of the year flew through the garden. It seemed that many butterflies had suddenly appeared with the mini heatwave going on.

With finding the Emperor Moth I thought I would try my 3 year old pheromone lure to see if it would still work. It wasn't long before I found out as at least 6 male Emperors were soon coming in to investigate. It is always a pleasure seeing these spectacular moths at close range.






Two different male Emperor Moths.



3 comments:

  1. Amazing images Bob,stunning colours,well done.
    John.

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  2. That male Emperor is quite stunning and lovely clean photos too. Had a Hairy Dragonfly emerge a few nights ago. The sequence is on my blog.

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  3. The emperors are beautiful. Had my first green veined white today. Lots of flutters about this weekend

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