Three male Emperor Moths emerged at Westcott this morning. These were the first to appear from my over-wintered pupae, having reared through a large batch of caterpillars when we were stuck at home last summer.
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| Captive-bred Emperor Moth male, Westcott 13th April |
These three moths were released about 15km away, over the county line near Bicester in Oxon, so that I don't get them back when I try assembling for a garden record when the first female eventually appears.
Today's emergence is a fairly typical date for those I've reared here, which are kept in our unheated and unlit garage until early March then transferred to the garden shed to get used to daylight again.
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2007
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9th April (male)
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11th April (female)
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2008
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18th April (male)
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21st April (female)
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2009
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10th April (male)
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12th April (female)
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2010
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17th April (male)
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19th April (female)
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2011
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7th April (female)
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8th April (male)
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2012
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13th April (female)
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19th April (male)
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2013
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29th April (male)
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30th April (female)
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2014
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7th April (female)
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Not recorded (male)
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2015
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17th April (male)
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17th April (female)
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2016
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20th April (female)
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28th April (male)
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2017
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7th April (male)
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8th April (female)
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2018
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20th April (male)
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20th April (female)
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The missing date for a male in 2014 is due to me being away from the 8th onwards and that year's pupae were left to fend for themselves in the garden. In 2019 and 2020 I successfully used the EMP pheromone lure to bring males into the garden and this was achieved on 28th March and 3rd April respectively, much earlier than normal. I know that males have been seen in low numbers since the last week of March this year too but now must be the ideal time to try for them if you've got the lure. They'll cope with the cold if the sun is out.
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
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