Freyer's Purple Emperor (Apatura metis) | Species | ||||||||
 Male. Taken at Meste River fishponds, Bulgaria, on June 24th 2014. (1/500th sec at f11. © David Hastings)  Male. Taken at Meste River fishponds, Bulgaria, on June 24th 2014. (1/1000th sec at f11. © David Hastings) DescriptionFamily: Nymphalinae Wing span: 59 - 62mm Similar to the Lesser Purple Emperor, but both sexes have orange-brown uppersides. The male shows a slight purple iridescence on its forewings. Freyer's Purple Emperor is restricted to major river systems in Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, N Serbia, Bulgaria, N Greece and European Turkey. It prefers wooded habitats along rivers and streams below 650m. There are two generations per year, in May/June and July/August. The larva is the over-wintering stage. The main larval foodplant is White Willow (Salix alba). Males exhibit strongly territorial behaviour. Sightings
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