Purple emperor
Apatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedbutterflies and moths
The purple emperor (Apatura iris) is an insect in the butterflies and moths subgroup, placed in the family Nymphalidae. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera, superfamily Papilionoidea, subfamily Apaturinae and genus Apatura, within the class Insecta and phylum Arthropoda.
_female.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the purple emperor
The scientific name Apatura iris carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Scavengersrc for Diet
- Main food
- flowerssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forest, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- On the wing
- June to Augustsrc for On the wing
- Generations a year
- Severalsrc for Generations a year
- Larval food plants
- Salicaceae familysrc for Larval food plants
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the purple emperor
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_focus_stack-20250619-RM-111954.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the purple emperor live?
Not recorded
What is the purple emperor?
Apatura iris, the purple emperor, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
From the Wikipedia article “Apatura iris” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apatura_iris&oldid=1376222433), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the purple emperor endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the purple emperor classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderLepidoptera
- familyNymphalidae
- genusApatura
- SpeciesApatura iris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Apatura chattendeni, Apatura chattendeni, Apatura iridella, Apatura iris iris, Apatura iris peninsularis, Apatura lutescens, Apatura maximinus, Apatura obscurior, Apatura pseudoiris, Apatura salicis, Apatura sari, Apatura sari, Apatura sorbioduni, Apatura sordioduni, Nymphalis iris, Papilio iris, Papilio suspirans
Other names and names in other languages (48)
- Пераліўніца вялікаяBelarusian
- Голяма ирисова пеперудаBulgarian
- Tornassolada granCatalan
- Tornassolada grossaCatalan
- batolec duhovýCzech
- Mantell BorfforWelsh
- Mentyll PorfforWelsh
- IrisDanish
- IrissommerfuglDanish
- Stor regnbuefuglDanish
- Stor regnbuesommerfuglDanish
- Großer SchillerfalterGerman
- Απάτουρα η ΊριςGreek
- TornasoladaSpanish
- Tornasolada MayorSpanish
- suur-kiirgliblikasEstonian
- Distira-lamia begidunaBasque
- häiveperhonenFinnish
- Grand Mars changeantFrench
- Grutte WjerskynflinterWestern Frisian
- impire corcarachScottish Gaelic
- an t-iompaire corcarachScottish Gaelic
- ìmpire-corcarachScottish Gaelic
- iompaire corcarachScottish Gaelic
- Velika preljevalicaCroatian
- Velika modra preljevicaCroatian
- BłyšćakUpper Sorbian
- nagy színjátszólepkeHungarian
- Farfalla irideItalian
- チョウセンコムラサキJapanese
- 번개오색나비Korean
- Grousse SchillerfalterLuxembourgish
- Kilnioji vaivaLithuanian
- Kārklu zaigraibenisLatvian
- stor purpurkåpeNorwegian Bokmål
- Grote weerschijnvlinderDutch
- mieniak tęczowiecPolish
- جامنی رانیWestern Panjabi
- Переливница ивоваяRussian
- dúhovec väčšíSlovak
- veliki spreminjavčekSlovenian
- sälgskimmerfjärilSwedish
- stor skimmerfjärilSwedish
- ผีเสื้อเจ้าชายม่วงThai
- Мінливець великийUkrainian
- Apatura irisVietnamese
- 紫閃蛺蝶Chinese
- 紫闪蛱蝶Chinese
Relatives of the purple emperor
Other species in the same genus Apatura.
Lesser purple emperor
Apatura ilia
Laverna emperor
Apatura laverna
Schrenck's emperor
Mimathyma schrenckii
ComparePurple emperor vs Lesser purple emperorPurple emperor vs Laverna emperorPurple emperor vs Schrenck's emperorPurple emperor vs Apatura ambica
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the purple emperor?
The purple emperor is an insect in the butterflies and moths subgroup. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera.
What is the scientific name of the purple emperor?
The scientific name of the purple emperor is Apatura iris. It is placed in the genus Apatura.
Who named the purple emperor and when?
The scientific name Apatura iris has the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
What family does the purple emperor belong to?
The purple emperor belongs to the family Nymphalidae, in the subfamily Apaturinae.
What superfamily is the purple emperor in?
The purple emperor is in the superfamily Papilionoidea, within the order Lepidoptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Purple emperor (Apatura iris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-emperor
“Purple emperor (Apatura iris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-emperor.
@misc{purple_emperor_2026,
title = {Purple emperor (Apatura iris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-emperor},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}