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A very elusive butterfly, the Purple Emperor male is described as being one of the most beautiful of all of the butterflies found in the British Isles. Viewed at certain angles it appears to have black wings intersected with white bands but when the wings are at a certain angle to the sun a purple sheen is displayed. The females (one seen here) are deep brown and do not possess the purple sheen found in the male.

The Purple Emperor is also one of the most extensively studied and written about butterflies in the British Isles. It spends most of its time in the woodland canopy where it feeds on aphid honeydew, with the occasional close encounter when it comes down to feed on sap runs or, in the case of the male, animal droppings, carrion or moist ground that provide salts and minerals.

This butterfly is confined to deciduous woodland in central southern England, between South Wiltshire and South Hampshire in the west, Surrey and West Sussex in the east, and Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire in the north, with scattered colonies elsewhere. It is not found in the north of England, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands and has not been seen in Wales since the 1930s.

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