Padfield

[Padfield]

Thank you David, Goldie and Andrew.

I must confess to being a little obsessed with purple emperor caterpillars. I first started hunting for them in late summer 2008. I found my first one - Nero - in the spring of 2010. Nero was in fact a special individual, having hibernated in 2nd instar, and he inspired me to learn more about these amazing creatures. Few people consciously realise that the butterflies they see gracing the forests in July and August have survived a whole year as egg, caterpillar and chrysalis. They have escaped the clutches of birds, spiders and forest bugs, been subjected to bitter temperatures on twigs and stems throughout the winter and shed their larval skins five times. It is a real privilege to share some of this journey with them.

Today it rained persistently from dawn until my late-night dog-walk. Despite that, I was able to find two more caterpillars on my lunchtime walk: Riley and Principal Flutie. The giveaway in both cases was the pattern of feeding damage on nearby leaves, but both were also interesting in that they shared they patches with other herbivores. Normally, I take the presence of non-iris damage to mean it's not worth looking just there for iris. But this leaf spray shows both - iris on the right and something else on the left:



This led me to Riley, who is laid up for ecdysis - apologies for the awful photo, taken in rubbish light conditions:



Principal Flutie seems to have recently graduated into 5th instar. It looks as if he is trampling on his old skin here:



His tree also showed signs of other insect damage, such as curled or perforated leaves.

That brings my spring 2018 total to 11 cats, of which I am still on top of 10. Just Drusilla has disappeared. It is possible - just possible - that I will be able to locate the chrysalis of at least one of them, as several are on isolated, reasonably substantial saplings. Caterpillars in big trees disappear into the canopy and are impossible to find among the large summer leaves. Caterpillars on tiny saplings usually wander off. But there is a happy medium. Fingers crossed ...

Guy

[CallumMac]

Guy - really fascinating updates on your caterpillars. Out of interest, how do you tell iris feeding damage from other things (other than by finding the caterpillar responsible!)? There must be moth caterpillars that also feed on sallow, but it sounds like you're quite confident about whether damage is from iris or not before you start searching.

[Padfield]

Hi Callum. The unhelpful answer is that recognising iris damage is like recognising a friend's face: the mind processes a whole host of cues subconsciously and holistically, so you just say, 'That's Iris!' (or Barnaby, or Percival &c.) without really knowing how you know. More helpfully, iris usually nibbles in more or less symmetrically from the sides of a leaf, often but not always leaving the apex and/or base intact. It never produces perforations, rolled leaves or scythe-like curves and never stitches up leaves with silk, though it may leave heavy concentrations of silk on its seat leaf. Sometimes the overall pattern is very different from that described in the books but it is always instantly recognisable when you have your eye in.

This is the leaf damage that drew me to Wesley:



It's not really typical but I knew without a shadow of doubt it was caused by a little emperor.

I set off this morning for my cardinal sites, to see if this species was on the wing yet. It was a particularly hard winter and I am keen to be reassured it has survived. No trace of a cardinal today, though. That's still OK - the earliest I've seen one was 4th May and mid-May is typical. I was pleased, however, to get a few shots of iolas blue:




(same picture, closer crop)



Top blue!

New for the year at the same site were turquoise blue and spotted fritillary:





This is an Adonis blue:



In the evening we took an iris cat walk. It is amazing to see Faith and Willow both huge 5th graders so early in the year. Faith is just two weeks off pupation:





Willow is just a few days behind:





This picture shows their relative positions on their tree:



Here is Mayor Wilkins in shadow:



I thought this was Principal Flutie in shadow when I took the picture but as I can make out the upperside markings he must simply be on the shady side of the leaf:



That picture was taken on my way home. I actually spent half an hour looking for him on my way out without success! He has moved from his seat leaf and I thought he had been gobbled up by a bird.

Xander is soon to lay up for transition into 4th grade - this is about as big and fat as a 3rd grader gets:



Anya, in a very dark and shady part of the forest, has just graduated, I think into 4th grade. You can see her old skin next to her here:



Guy

[Padfield]

Quick update from my morning walk.

Principal Snyder has entered 5th instar and moved a considerable distance on his tree - I only found him by checking literally every leaf on the tree, one by one (stopping when I found him, of course!):





Principal Flutie is laid up for his final skin change into 5th instar - meaning I was wrong a couple of days ago when I said he was trampling on his old skin. If it was skin, it wasn't his!



The significance of this is that at least three and perhaps four of these cats (Principals Snyder and Flutie, as well as Willow and Faith) will pupate by the end of May and quite possibly fly by mid-June. Faith is due to pupate on about 25th May, meaning she (or he, of course) could be on the wing before mid-June. I would say that means it's an early year, except that two of my cats are still 3rd instar. They are a month or more off pupation so will not fly much before the beginning of July.

Guy

[David M]

I must confess to being a little obsessed with purple emperor caterpillars. I first started hunting for them in late summer 2008. I found my first one - Nero - in the spring of 2010....

Never to God!!

Given you’ve only been doing it for 10 years, Guy, you have certainly succeeded in making a mighty fine job of it! Every year, I pray you’ll get your reward and follow one (or more) through pupation.

Maybe 2018 will that year?

By the way, you are making me most envious with your Iolas Blue images, a butterfly I've yet to see and which has now entered my top ten on my 'wish list'. You truly are very fortunate to have such a range of species on (or near) your 'patch'.

[Wurzel]

Interesting patterns on those blues Guy, the Adonis is really striking and then at the other end of the scale is the slightly washed out looking Iolas

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

You're right, Wurzel, there's a wonderful range of undersides in our blue friends. Iolas is distinctive, with its pale tones, but even more distinctive in its huge size and powerful flight. If you disturb one it can be on the other side of the site before you can say 'It's gone!'

Thanks David. My record over the years so far is 5 pupae located, of which one hatched - but only because I rescued it when its little copse was cut down by the woodmen. That's the one I filmed emerging in my living room, to a photo backdrop of its original home. I will never forget his first steps, as he explored my desk and computer ...



The hope, of course, is to film one emerging in the wild. The other 4 pupae all met sticky ends of one sort or another (parasitised, disappeared without trace overnight, bitten off - probably by a squirrel - and died of some disease), so it is a gamble right up until the last minute.

My most likely candidates remain Principal Flutie and Principal Snyder, as they are both in isolated trees and if they make it that far it should not be difficult to locate the pupae. Principal Snyder has moved again - about 4m as the cat crawls - and I had once again to search every leaf today to find him. I had almost given up when finally I spotted him, this time near the top of the tree:



Pulling the branch down, I took closer photos, confirming that he is in rude health:



Principal Flutie was still laid up for ecdysis this afternoon:



No sun and no butterflies, though.

Guy

[Pauline]

I am still enjoying your posts Guy even if they are turning me a peculiar shade of green Reckon you have more faith in me than I have in myself. I promise you it hasn't been for the want of trying over the last few years

[Padfield]

Thanks Pauline. Really, no intention of turning anyone green!

Still cold and wet here - genuinely cold, to the extent I had to wear a coat today - so no butterflies.

Riley is the latest cat to move up a grade. Here he is, sitting on his old skin:





Principal Flutie remains deep in prayer. The cold weather is putting a slight brake on the headlong rush to pupation - probably no bad thing:



Guy

[Cotswold Cockney]

Much more amenable and photogenic was this green-underside blue:



Guy

Just spent a pleasant half hour catching up on your very interesting posts and images Guy. Many thanks for taking the time.

The above image reminds me of my first ever encounter with a Green Underside Blue back in 1976 in unusual circumstances. I was on the Island of Elba looking for early stages of Charaxes jasius on the many acres of Arbutus unedo. Then I noticed what appeared to be a fully grown "blue" larva on my sock near the ankle. I boxed it along with some blossom of a nearby leguminous plant. It pupated before my return to the UK and spent the winter in my unheated greenhouse. Had no idea what it was until the insect emerged...

[David M]

Those are superb larval images again, Guy. These critters seem almost ready to go off and pupate now.

Interesting to hear you complain about your cold weather. It seems whenever the UK is enjoying a warm spell, much of western Europe suffers! I hope this is temporary, as I will be decamping to the French Pyrenees on Sunday and cold and rain would be most unwelcome!

[Padfield]

I'm glad you enjoy the posts, CC. I think of you as something of an expert on Apatura ... Green-underside blue is quite common in the Rhône Valley of Switzerland, reaching up as far as about 1200m in my region but being distinctly scarce at these altitudes.

It's about a week now until the first emperors head off to pupate, David. I'm beginning to lose track of some but still have a realistic hope of success this year!

It continued generally cool and overcast today but as soon as the sun did come out the pearl-bordered frits took to the wing. Males were comfortably airborne but slow (because of the temperature) and took frequent nectar breaks. Eggbound females looked distinctly laboured in flight. They had to do their job but it was obviously an effort under the conditions.

This is a male:



Little new to show on the iris front - Principal Flutie is still laid up, after nearly a week. As I first passed Principal Snyder he was motionless on his seat leaf, hidden in the high foliage of his tree:



On my return, just 15 minutes later I think, as I chose not to do the full loop today, he had gone. I quickly relocated him a few branches higher, guzzling a sallow leaf. In this picture you can see clearly the bifid tips of his horns:



The horns are bifid in the 2nd instar and not - or not nearly so much - in the 3rd. This is one way of telling these two, small, early instars apart. They are bifid again in 5th instar. I'm not sure about 4th - will have to examine my pictures. I think they are not cleft.

Guy

[Padfield]

The cardinals have emerged! If last winter didn't kill them I think they are here to stay!

I visited their site (still, to the best of my knowledge, the only site for this species in Switzerland) in the afternoon, seeing four of these giants within a few seconds of arriving. They were enjoying the clover and I didn't chase them or tread on the flowers but I did take a few shots:


(female)


(female)


(female)


(male - note the sex brands)


(male)


(male)

This male Iolas blue showed a little of its upperside today:




(spot the greenflies!!)

Earlier in the day I headed higher up for mountain dappled whites:





The same general area is reliable for Dukes, though they don't share the same habitat:



This is a shot of the dappled white habitat:



The Dukes prefer something a little lusher:



What? No iris cats? No. By the time we got back into the mountains it was pouring with rain (from seemingly blue skies). We caught the tram up to Villars, to buy provisions - when rain suddenly began streaming in through the open windows - and got thoroughly drenched cycling the short distance back home.

Guy

[bugboy]

Beautiful butterflies in stunning scenery, what more could you want from life

[trevor]

Speechless !.

[Padfield]

Thanks Buggy and Trevor. This is truly a beautiful country.

Today the weather was very mixed. We headed off to see if Provençal fritillaries were on the wing yet, beginning at a relatively low site. There, the sun never really got going. It was warm, and entire squadrons of Ascalahids were poised ready for takeoff, but their sorties were mostly short-lived:



This small heath got bored and started ticking off the minutes on his dandelion clock. He had obviously already finished the one in the background:



Still a few Camberwell beauties around, but looking their age now:



Similarly for the scarce swallowtails. This one had symmetrical, grey shading across the forewings:



Leaving that spot when the clouds became really dense we moved higher up the mountain, expecting more to have a walk than to see any butterflies. But in the event, the sun did come out and we actually saw quite a few.

First on the wing (after the walls, which were flying up there even in the cloud) were the wood whites:



Minnie is in the background in this shot:



Before long, several species of blue (including chequered) were flying, along with scarce swallowtails, Apollos and Berger's clouded yellows. This is the only Apollo I saw stop, albeit briefly:



All the Melitaea I saw were clearly cinxia (Glanville) and as this was also a good site for Provençal I must presume they are not flying yet.

Our path took us through this lovely waterfall:



Minnie was not impressed so I picked her up and carried her through!

All the way round, the occasional de Prunner's ringlet would appear. This was the only one that stopped briefly:



By the end of the walk, as we headed down to the bike and the long, downhill cycle ride, it turned cold again. Like yesterday, by the time we reached Villars it was pouring and we ended up cycling home in the rain.

Guy

[Padfield]

An evening walk to check on the caterpillars resulted in a pleasant encounter with a particularly amenable pearl-bordered fritillary:





Minnie really wasn't interested:



I checked a nearby alder buckthorn for brimstone cats. None, but several eggs that I think will hatch soon. These are the best photos I could get under the conditions (they were on the undersides of leaves, in the shade):





The two most mature purple emperor cats, Willow and Faith, have both deserted their homes - I hope in search of a suitable place to pupate. I expected them to move off and I don't expect to be able to find their pupae. The sallow above is dense and other trees with broader leaves reach into it. NEVERTHELESS, both Principal Snyder and Principal Flutie are alive and well, and if they survive to pupate I will definitely be able to locate them. They are both in small but sufficient, totally isolated sallows.

Principal Flutie is by a fast stream and there is no way he will venture off his tree. He spent about a week preparing to moult but finally made the grade some time this last weekend. Tonight he was looking good. He will start looking for a pupation location in two weeks:



Principal Snyder will start looking for his pupation location in a week - if I am right about who he is. I suspect there were two caterpillars on his tree and I might have conflated them. That means he might actually do it earlier. He was in deep shade by this evening but I got a few shots:



Xander is an interesting chap. He spent the winter in 2nd instar and graduated into 3rd instar on 2nd-3rd May. He graduated into 4th instar this last weekend too, while Principal Flutie was graduating into 5th. He is therefore exactly one instar behind. This is him today, in fresh 4th instar livery:



Mayor Wilkins also spent the winter in 2nd instar and recently graduated into 3rd, but I have lost him. He was in a very shady part of a sallow thicket and has probably moved closer to the light since graduation.

Finally, here is a white admiral caterpillar, rather close to my house:



This picture shows the leaf damage that alerted me to his presence. I knew eggs were laid there last year but thought all the cats had perished. I must have missed his hibernaculum:



Guy

[Padfield]

First chequered skipper of the year appeared on my lunchtime caterpillar walk:



I would have gone in for better pictures but another buzzed it and they zoomed off together.

Principals Flutie and Snyder are still locatable. Principal Flutie has moved to a new spot, not far from his old:



In that picture he is laying down the silk to turn that into a new seat leaf.

Principal Snyder seems to have settled for the time being:



He is less than a week from pupation.

Xander, who has just graduated into 4th instar, was on the move when I arrived. I may or may not be able to find him next time I come down:



When he saw me he adopted the alarm posture:



I backed off. They are at their most vulnerable when crawling along a twig.

This white admiral caterpillar is laid up for transition into the final instar:



Guy

[bugboy]

Thanks for the advice on your namesake Guy. I popped in on him at the end of today's (what became) rather epic day out and he's still parked on the same leaf as yesterday. I presume he moved around last night to feed.

[Padfield]

Good news Buggy! I hope you are able to follow him.

Things are remaining positive on the purple emperor front here. In fact, they took a distinct turn for the better this evening. I did one of my regular walks, taking in Principals Flutie and Snyder. Principal Flutie was still in fine fettle. He is probably 10 or 11 days from preparing for pupation. Now, I've been suspecting for a while that Principal Snyder is in fact two cats, because although until today I'd only seen one of him, the leaf patterns and the distance between sightings suggested two. I was wrong. There are in fact three of him! I think I know which one is the original, but it's impossible to be sure, and have named the other two Darla and Harmony.

The beauty of it is that all three are on a small, isolated tree. If they reach pupation - and at least two of them are within a week of this now - they will almost certainly stay on this tree. It is physically possible for me to check every single leaf for pupae as it is not dense.



What a tree! Because the light was fading, my individual photos of them were not brilliant, but I took several shots for the record.

This is Principal Snyder:



This is Darla:



And this is Harmony:



Xander seemed to have disappeared last time I visited, after graduating into 4th instar. He was back again today:



The white admiral cat I said was laid up for ecdysis has moulted. Again, good pictures were impossible in the light, but you can see he is distinctly spikier now, and generally fresher:



He is also very small still. If he really is 5th instar he has a lot of growing to do.

Finally, I spotted this big, fat great banded grayling caterpillar crossing the road at lunchtime:





He is wandering in search of a place to pupate.

Guy