Every July in the 1980s, my dad and I visited Foxley Wood, an ancient woodland close to my home. We were searching for the purple emperor, an iridescent purple, treetop-dwelling insect that inspires more obsession than any other butterfly.
Last seen in Norfolk in the early 70s, it fell extinct because Foxley, like many ancient woodlands, was turned over to conifers after the war. We hoped this notoriously elusive creature survived but, if it did, it always eluded us.
This year, the emperor is back in Foxley. It has actually returned to many Norfolk woods, as revealed by two brilliant devotees, Liz Goodyear and Andrew Middleton. Enjoying this spectacular butterfly’s lightning forays over high oaks, I met a man who last saw the emperor in Foxley in 1971 and feared he would never again enjoy its charisma in his lifetime.
The emperor is marching northwards across Britain. Climate change is helping, as is the spread of sallow trees, its caterpillars’ food plant. But certain obsessives have also quietly bred and released hundreds of emperors, particularly in Suffolk. Conservationists say such releases are irresponsible and mess with scientific data. I’m now not so sure. We need all the joy we can get in today’s world.
