Matthew Oates

His Imperial Majesty (eBook, ePUB)

A Natural History of the Purple Emperor

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A witty and informative account that busts the myths about Britain's most captivating butterfly species.

When summer is at its zenith and the sallow foliage develops a bluish tinge, a giant butterfly - beautiful, bold and brazen - flies powerfully over the tree canopy. Females of this species, wary yet determined, haunt the sallow thickets, depositing their eggs, while the males establish treetop territories and descend to the woodland floor in search of indelicacies to feed upon. Mysterious, elusive and enthralling in equal measure, this is the butterfly that Victorian collectors yearned for above all others: His Imperial Majesty, the Purple Emperor.

A wondrous enigma, the Purple Emperor is our most elusive and least-known butterfly - we glimpse it only through fissures in its treetop world, yet this giant insect has fascinated us for centuries and has even inspired its own 'Emperoring' language. Matthew Oates became captivated by the Purple Emperor following his first sighting as a boy. He has studied it assiduously ever since, devoting his life to trying to unravel the Emperor's secrets.

His Imperial Majesty takes us on a journey, beginning with a dalliance into the bizarre history of our engagement with the butterfly, with daring doings and gross eccentricities from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Subsequent chapters explore all aspects of this remarkable butterfly's life cycle, including behaviour, habitat preferences, life history and conservation, all relayed in Matthew's unique, informative and witty style. Not so long ago, our knowledge of the Emperor was largely based on a blend of mythology and assumption.

This book dispels the fabrications and reveals all about the Purple Emperor - the king of British butterflies.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 288
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. Juni 2020
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781472950130
• Artikelnr.: 59498719

Autorenporträt

Matthew Oates is a naturalist, writer and poet who has been obsessed by Britain's butterflies since he was at school. Intimately acquainted with all Britain's native species, he has conducted most of his research on the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Mountain Ringlet and Duke of Burgundy; his experiences are summarised in his 2015 book, In Pursuit of Butterflies. But no butterfly has entranced him as much as the elusive Purple Emperor - a butterfly we now understand much better thanks to his detailed and tireless observations, captured in His Imperial Majesty (Bloomsbury, 2020).

Matthew retired from his post as National Specialist on Nature with the National Trust in 2018, and dedicated his retirement to ensuring the future of his favourite butterfly. He writes regularly for The Times Nature Notebook column and in magazines, and lives on the Gloucestershire-Wiltshire border.

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword Introduction: Adrift on the wind Chapter 1: A glorious history
Chapter 2: The modern era Chapter 3: The Purple Empire Chapter 4:
Introduction to the adult stage Chapter 5: Beauty as a weapon: the male
Purple Emperor Chapter 6: The Empress: a life apart Chapter 7: Looking for
Purple Emperors Chapter 8: Habitats and breeding grounds Chapter 9: Sallow
identification and preferences: a veritable nightmare Chapter 10: Eggs and
late summer larvae Chapter 11: Hibernation and the winter months Chapter
12: Spring larvae and the pupal stage Chapter 13: Adventures with
remarkable caterpillars Chapter 14: Looking for Purple Emperor eggs and
larvae Chapter 15: The Purple land that England gained Chapter 16:
Conservation issues Chapter 17: The future Appendix: The history and
current status of the Purple Emperor, by region and country Glossary
References and further reading Epilogue Acknowledgements Index of species
and scientific names General index