''Apatura metis'', the Freyer's purple emperor, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

found in the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

."''Apatura metis'' Freyer, 1829"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Appearance

Freyer's purple emperor has dark wings with reddish and yellow bands. The wings of the male are bluish purple if seen from the right angle. In appearance, it resembles ''

Apatura ilia ''Apatura ilia'', the lesser purple emperor, is a species of butterfly native to most of Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is named for its similarity to the Apatura iris, purple emperor butterfly. Description The wingspan is in the ...

''. However, it differs significantly from it by a stepped protrusion in the middle of the outer edge of the postdiscal band of the hindwings. The ground colour of the wings above is usually dark brown, with a light orange postdiscal band, an orange marginal band, and a field of the same colour in the median cell of the forewings. A blind ocellus is located in the anal corner of the fore and hind wings. There are four dark spots within the light field of the median cell of the forewings. Below, the wings are light, orange-brown, with a greenish coating. The body is large, dark, covered with reddish hairs above and white hairs below. The femora are white, the tibia and feet are reddish. The palps are pointed to the apex. Antennae are long, dark, with rufous margins below, at the base and at the ends of the clubs. The wings of males with a purple tint of their main background. For the Seitz account of ''metis'' see ''

Systematics

Freyer's purple emperor belongs to the genus ''

Apatura ''Apatura'' is a genus of butterflies commonly known as the emperors. Species Listed alphabetically: * ''Apatura ilia'' ( enis and Schiffermüller 1775) – lesser purple emperor * '' Apatura iris'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – purple emperor * '' A ...

'', subfamily

Apaturinae The Apaturinae are a subfamily of butterflies that includes many species commonly called emperors. Description Strikingly-coloured, with cryptic underwing. A distinguishing character of the subfamily is the green proboscis. Agathina emperor ( ...

. The species is divided into seven subspecies: * ''Apatura metis metis'' (Freyer, 1829) (south-eastern Europe) * ''Apatura metis bunea'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 1845) (south-European Russia, Caucasus) * ''Apatura metis substituta'' (Butler, 1873) (Japan) * ''Apatura metis irtyshika'' (Korshunov, 1982) (south-western Siberia, Kazakhstan) * ''Apatura metis separata'' (Tuzov, 2000) (Transbaikalia) * ''Apatura metis heijona'' (Matsumura, 1928) (Korea, Amur and Ussuri regions) * ''Apatura metis doii'' (Matsumura, 1928) (Kurile islands)

Habitat and ecology

Freyer's purple emperor usually inhabits forests and is often found nearby rivers and streams. The female spends the majority of her life in the foliage. The largest habitat of the animal is the

Gemenc Gemenc is a unique forest that is found between Szekszárd and Baja, Hungary, Baja, in Hungary. This is the only remaining Intertidal zone, tidal area of the Danube in Hungary. The wood's fauna include stags, boars, storks, grey herons, saker falc ...

forest in southern Hungary. Although it is one of the rarest animals in Europe, it can be seen in large quantities there. In Europe, Freyer's purple emperor usually has one, sometimes two generations, the first in May and June, the second in July and August. The caterpillars feed on

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

species. This species is stoutly protected in Europe. The nominal worth of a single specimen is HUF50,000, which equals about

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

238.

Gallery

File:Apatura metis 02.jpg, ''Apatura metis substituta'' on

Mount Kirigamine is a 1,925m volcano, located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Outline The tallest peak of Mount Kirigamine is Mount Kuruma, on which there is a weather radar site. Most of the mountain is covered in grass with sparse bushes and rocks. The south a ...

, Japan File:Apatura_metis_03.jpg

References

{{authority control Apaturinae Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of Japan Butterflies described in 1829 Taxa named by Christian Friedrich Freyer