emperors!

 

08-05-22
After the success of Iain's moth demo when he lured emperor moths out of thin air, I decided to try this magic for myself. For a whole £10 I bought (online) a pheromone impregnated bung (a fingernail sized piece of rubber) and took it to the nearest part of the Pentlands, Bonaly. It was a bit overcast with moments of sunshine and I had no idea about the potential for success. It is a particularly nice spot and a favourite starting point for runs in the Pentlands. So it wouldn't be an ordeal even if little turned up there. I took 48 minutes to cycle the 8 (mostly uphill) miles there as I did not want to arrive in a soggy lather. I think my record for that one is about 35mins. 

I was in 2 minds about what to do with my bike. Living in Leith I distrust leaving my bike anywhere it can be interfered with. But there is a spot near the Scout car park where it can be hidden behind bushes that is fairly safe. This gave me the freedom to wander up to the nearest moor/grassland/heath to go look for stuff. I could climb fences and chase butterflies without having to haul my bike with me. Good plan. 

I was surprised to see quite a few butterflies. It was quite windy - fairly usual for the Pentlands - and not ideal butterfly conditions. Above is a peacock being chased for flying into green hairstreak airspace. Below; peacock, 2 hairstreaks and a buzzy bumble flypast.

plenty green hairstreaks about 

common heath moth - lots about
males (as above and below) have large antennae

first spot I tried the lure

I put the lure in a midge net and burled it round my head a few times. After 2 or 3 minutes an emperor flew by but after the quickest of inspections realised it had been misled and quickly disappeared. Not much else so I relocated a hundred yards West, where the wind took the scent of a lady moth over a hummock and down the valley. Within a very short space of time several emperors drunk on love or at least infatuation came steaming over the heather. £10 well spent! I have seen what was probably emperors bowling past a couple of times out on the hills but rarely do you ever get even a 100% positive sighting. They are very lively moths and do not hang about. The lure brought them right over to where I was standing, delighted, because these guys are spectacular. And they all wanted a piece of the action.

what time is it? Emperor time!

One landed in the heather and stayed settled for photos. But by far the more usual activity was they would stay in the vicinity hunting for the female they could sense but not see, moving continually. And near impossible to photograph. The answer was to very carefully catch them in a tupperware tub or similar and deprive them of sunlight and warmth. I shoved the container into the depths of heather and covered it with my jumper. After a few minutes they were cooled down and going into stasis meaning they could be retrieved and placed on a piece of wood nearby for photos. Sometimes I only got a handful of seconds before they were off, sometimes they would last 30secs of placid before warming up by shivering their wings, then they'd be off.

They tended to fly some distance after their alien abduction so I felt I wasn't recatching the same ones again. But I'd go over to where the lure was and catch another couple in 2 containers for potential photos. I'm guessing there was somewhere between 7 and 20, but it was impossible to say. The most I saw at one time was perhaps 6. But they are very lively creatures and don't hang about while you count them.

three specimens circle the lure
demonstrating their colours matching the background foliage

As well as a tupperware container I had a flask cup which was to contain a moth. And I could see in the mouth hole of the top when the moth had stopped fluttering around and was placid. The one below I tried to perch in a small tree. Unfortunately I chose a rather battered specimen and then it wouldn't sit properly and then flew off. 

I also tried posing this one on a lichenous stone.
Didn't really work. 

plenty green hairstreaks about trying to distract me

I had placed this branch to pose pre-cooled moths on. Unfortunately the moths were not easy to remove from their containers and put just where you want them. This one seemed to want to sit too low. However it did at least sit with open wings. Others flew off as soon as they sensed freedom from cooler prison. Some preferred not to leave a nice warm hand and refused to get onto the wood.

another trio of emperors

too fast to photo

they did seem to like a bit of fleece material

I have a feeling if you made a female emperor out of grey fleece they would go mental for it. I am sort of tempted  - you wouldn't have to make an exact replica - just a loose approximation with maybe a pouch for the rubber lure. You could have it on a stick and and as you walked across the heather there'd be a trail of moths following! Here is an old photo of a female from a couple of years ago which Mary spotted when we were out chasing green hairstreaks. They are splendid creatures and slightly larger than the males - and they don't fly as well as the males. It is the males who do all the travelling to find the females. 

what all the fuss is about

an aberration with large eye spots
and missing white bar between forewing eyes and body

video of wing flapping to warm up

this fly liked my back pack

and helped point out emperors

underside

lovely spot just above where
Victor the ranger led a hairstreak hunt a few years back

from where I left the bike near the car park
 to the best site above Torduff

there are far more hairstreaks all around the vicinity now

and quite a few GVWs too

This was the very rock I'd used to pose the emperor
but when I tried to get a close up of this peacock it was off.

this spot with a small stream running through 

was popular with an orange tip and his 2 companions

really pleased to get this OT in-flight shot
I took dozens but this was the best by far

GVW hassling the OT to come and play

It was sufficiently cold and blowy that the OT was happy to sit
on a warm and relatively sheltered finger waiting for the sun to come back out.

glad bike was still there

8miles up 9 back as I went past my mum's
(mowed the lawn and helped eat her lunch!)

91 and recently out of hospital after a bout of covid!