8th May 2018

Finally...a fine male Emperor Moth to lure this afternoon. I managed to net him during one of several fly-pasts and let him cool down for a few minutes in the fridge. When placed on a plant in the garden he stayed just long enough for a couple of photos before dashing off.

19th April 2016

Between 1 and 3 male Emperor Moths in the garden this afternoon attracted to the EMP pheromone lure. This is the first time I've been successful with the lure the only previous record of EM here being of 2 males attracted to a 'singing' female a few years ago. It all seems a very hit and miss affair with the male hurtling around the garden rarely going anywhere near the lure. I netted one and, after taking some rather poor photos, released him onto the lure. He immediately flew off.

16th May 2012

My final female Emperor moth emerged a couple of days ago and despite time and weather conditions being far from ideal (late afternoon, windy and cool) I put her outside in the hope of attracting a wild male. The brush structure protruding from the abdomen (1st picture) showed she was 'displaying' and around 45 minutes later a male finally appeared. It bumbled around in the garden for 15 minutes before I lost patience, netted him and placed him next to the female - mating started immediately (2nd picture). The result is in the 3rd picture!

 

10th April 2012

Finally, after 3 years of trying, I managed to attract a wild male Emperor Moth to the garden this afternoon using a captive-bred, 'displaying' female. But it was all over very quickly - the male appeared out of nowhere and landed by the container holding the female only to be seized and carried off by one of the local Robins! The photo is therefore of captive-bred moths.