Sunday 24th May saw some of the first Emperors emerging. A teneral was seen in Chelmarsh and I was lucky enough to visit Anne Bradley’s ponds in Pontesbury where we saw around 20 Emperor exuviae! These are far larger than other hawker exuviae, the one pictured here being 5.6cm in length (excluding the outstretched legs). For the exuviae connoisseur Emperor’s have a circular overall head shape with less ‘bulgy’ eyes than many of the hawkers, and they have an eye hind margin that is parallel to the hind margin of the head – happy hunting!
