emperor butterfly

Any of several nymphalid butterflies of the subfamily Apaturinae, especially the Eurasian species Apatura iris, the male of which has iridescent purple wings.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

emperor butterfly - large richly colored butterfly

emperor

brush-footed butterfly, four-footed butterfly, nymphalid, nymphalid butterfly - medium to large butterflies found worldwide typically having brightly colored wings and much-reduced nonfunctional forelegs carried folded on the breast

Apatura, genus Apatura - large Old World butterflies

Apatura iris, purple emperor - large European butterfly the male of which has wings shaded with purple

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

The elusive purple emperor butterfly made its earliest appearance in 120 years, at Bookham Common, Surrey on June 11.

Climate change is posing problems for UK's wildlife

But the polarised weather, which saw the summer months hit by wet conditions, caused species such as the purple emperor butterfly - which laid hardly any eggs - to suffer.

Merseyside wildlife survives four seasons of weird weather; WILDLIFE

However, the polarised weather, which saw the summer months hit by wet conditions in the north and a cold drought in central and eastern England, caused species such as the purple emperor butterfly to suffer.