Purple emperor pupal leaf attachment

[Padfield]

A poignant reminder of last summer. This is what is left of Diocletian, who apparently gave birth to parasites in early July 2010 (either that or he just died and was recycled by various insects):



His leaf is conspicuous as almost the only one still attached to the bush:



And here is how the leaf is attached:





I had presumed Diocletian secured the leaf himself before pupating but Pete says this is not usual. I'm wondering if the silk might have been laid afterwards by spiders and others looting the corpse:



Guy