Storm Damage & Pet Rescue

Storm Bert will have brought a number of older sallows down in the woods. Most of them will regrow, if left alone, as 'walking trees' (as in ' "Narnia awake! Be walking trees..." '). Few of them will be left alone, though.

Fallen sallows present a good opportunity to find and rescue Emperor larvae (either by rearing them in captivity or by tying snipped off larval twigs back on to safe sallows - old-fashioned wire plastic bag fasteners work well).  

A fallen sallow like this is likely to produce a couple of larvae, in or under the crown, at a rate of one every ~45 mins searching -

Crucially, few if any larvae fall off when the tree comes down - their feet are that well attached to the silk pads. Don't underestimate an Emperor caterpillar, just rescue it...

 

New Method of Finding Larvae...

Today, in the steep-sided wooded valley of the River Frome between Cirencester and Stroud, in it's-not-supposed-to-be-Purple-Gloucestershire, I became the first person (surely!) to find an Emperor caterpillar whilst having a pee! Completely by accident, but I always say: Look and thou shalt find, and I looked...

Here, he is, on a twig scar. He's called Willie -

So, never mind Dangle Leafing, we now have Dangle Willy....

The ultimate Purple micturation experience, though, came in 2011 when Neil Hulme was in midstream in the middle of one of the Fermyn rides, baiting, when Apatura iris ab. afflicta flew between his legs. Here's the offended butterfly -

On a more serious note, Storm Bert (what fool named it that?) could well end the 2024 Dangle Leaf Season prematurely.

 

Dangle Leafing Update...

Yes, the blog that brought you 'Dangle Leaf' now brings you 'Dangle Leafing', a term covering the art of looking for Emperor larvae using the Dangle Leaf Method... 

It's a bit like dry fly fishing for specimen Brown Trout on a southern chalk stream: a lot of wandering about, intense observation skills - and the last thing you do is cast...

Here's a particularly silly Dangle, but it is 100% Apatura iris -

But it was there one day, gone the next.

It is now half-time in the Dangle Leaf season here in the western reaches of the Empire: the leaves and dangles have come off the early leaf-fall sallows, and have all but gone from the mainstream leaf-fall sallows (more Emperoring terminology here...)

but the late leaf-fall sallows are still quite green. They are late to drop their leaves because they came into leaf last. 

These late leaf-fall sallows are likely to hold more larvae, because they were more attractive to the laying females, being thinner leaved in July... Crucially, they haven't started to reveal their dangles yet.

So the second half of the Dangle Leaf season here could be quite interesting... Of course, much depends on the weather - wind and rain take the dangles off, and the first half of November was marked by calm days.  

Most Emperor larvae are now in hibernation - apart from those on late leaf-fall sallows, many of which are still on leaf tips. So, to the woods, for the late sallows! You probably have until mid-December.

The best thing about the Dangle Leaf Season is that it takes the pain out of November! I used to dread this month...

Another story, this 'pillar was in hibernation on a curled terminal leaf back on Oct 19th - 

However, in mid-November s/he moved 3m to a bud, and changed colour. Don't underestimate a caterpillar, let alone an Emperor - 

It took me half an hour up a ladder to find it...

Numbers remain very low in and around Savernake, but Ben Greenaway is finding good numbers in mid West Sussex, mainly through Dangle Leafing. 

Happy dangling! 

 

Into Hibernation & Peak Dangle Leaf Season

Emperor larvae are now going off into hibernation. Those on early leaf-fall sallows are already in hibernation, favouring buds, forks and stem scars. 

Here's a typical one by a bud, from Savernake last Saturday - 

Here's one in a scar -

Larvae on late leaf-fall sallows, which are still green, are still on the leaf tips, though they are fully coloured up and ready to go. 

Larvae can go walkabout big time before finding a spot in which to winter - sometimes ending up close to where they started, after wandering many metres. However, it looks as though this year they are not wandering far.  

Here's a most atypical Dangle Leaf, attached to the stem by silk that's come detached from the silken highway spun along the leaf midrib! It wont last long -

The Dangle Leaf season is now in full swing, in the absence of rain and wind. Ben Greenaway found 22 larvae in a (long) day in West Sussex last week, nearly all of them via the Dangle Leaf Method.  

But the Dangle Leaf season may start to wane after the coming weekend, when squalls on a brisk northerly at forecast.

Dangle Leaf Season

The Dangle Leaf season is upon us! 

At this time of year, Emperor larvae change colour, quit their feeding leaves, and go walkabout prior to conking out for five months, normally by a bud or in a fork.

Crucially, they have silked their feeding / seat leaves on assiduously. The leaf petiole join then breaks, leaving the vacated leaves dangling on thin strands of silk, for an indeterminate while.

'Dangle Leaf' can be a highly effective way of discovering Emperor larvae, and a very useful survey technique; but it's rather like Floo Powder in Harry Potter...

First instar feed leaf dangles can be rather indistinct, and can be imitated by some moth larvae, and dangles on narrow-leaved sallows are particularly small; but occasionally you find clusters of first & second instar feed leaves, like these:-

or these:-

More usually, you find a vacated dangling part-eaten leaf like this:-

Most distinctive of all are the third instar feed leaves:-

This one's wrapped itself around the stem:- 

Note the broken petiole and the silk. That's iris, no one else does that (though spider silk can at times throw you). 

Dangles can also contain bits of leaf stalks, which have been silked on too:-

Note the silk on the stem:-

Dangles on narrow-leaved sallows last longer, but are smaller and easily missed.

Dangles on broad-leaved sallows are easier to spot, but get blown off by gales and washed off by rain - though some in sheltered spots may persist long into the winter. 

Dangles last better on sallows in the most sheltered spots, such as in gullies or on the edges of young conifer plantations.

The technique is to wander the woods on a day of good light with a gentle breeze, covering as many sallow stands as possible, and look for leaves - single or multi - spinning around madly in the air. Then home in on the 'pillar, which may be a few centimetres away, or a few metres distant. I carry a 2m long shepherd's crook. 

It's rather like dry fly fishing for specimen Brown Trout on a chalk stream: a lot of wandering and intense observation, the last thing you do is cast. 

There's a but coming up, and here it is: But there are early leaf-fall sallows, mainstream leaf-fall sallows and late-fall sallows (into early December), with much depending on when the first frosts arrive and sallow foliage health.

So, you have to do repeat-visits, checking regularly over a three week period. Sallows that have dropped 50-75% of their leaves are best, and ignore any that are still fully green (until later). Timing is everything.

This year the main Dangle Leaf season will probably run from November 11th to early December, but it may last till Christmas. Much depends on prevailing weather (don't venture out dangling after a storm, go before).

Enjoy... but beware of false prophets (many will come in my name): spider silk can sometimes generate Emperor-like dangles, Geometer moth larvae often silk-up small, usually uneaten leaves, and beware of broken stems. 

This is not iris (far too much white stuff and no eating on the leaf) -  

Halloween!

 Hibernating PE Cattie with a scary skull marking, from Knepp during the 2016-17 winter (it was last seen ascending a sallow as a big L4 larva on May Day).