The Living Forest (429) : Purple Emperor (male)
The magnificent purple emperor is undoubtedly a butterfly that is most admired and most sought after by butterfly watchers.
It is widely distributed in dense broadleaved woodlands throughout central Europe and in suitably temperate parts of Asia, including central and western China.
In Belgium it’s a pretty rare appearance.
This butterfly spends nearly all its time high up in tree tops, though he will sometimes descend to feed, resulting in an occasional close encounter (yeah I know, I’m a lucky guy).
Unlike most other butterflies, the purple emperor does not feed on flowers but instead on honeydew secreted by aphids, on sap oozing from oaks, but also on dung, urine and animal carcasses !
Dutch name : Grote Weerschijnvlinder
German name : Grosser Schillerfalter
Latin name : Apatura iris
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A big thanks to JX
for the nomination of this picture !
Alexida 10/06/2018 16:17
..eine wunderbare Aufnahme..LG Nadja
Mark Billiau. 09/02/2018 7:59
@ everybody who voted pro : thank you and of course an extra thanks to JX for the nomination of this picture.Mark
Edi Ogris 08/02/2018 10:46 Voting comment
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Einfach Klasse!||++Pro++||
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