Apollo (Parnassius apollo)

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2023 photographs highlighted in green. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.

17946_male?_Isère_11Jul09 7995_male_Isère_5Jul07 25721_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_12Jun11 26143_male_Alpes-Maritimes_02Jul11
43329_male_Var_07Jun17 33245_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_1Jul13 44708_female_Alpes-Maritimes_20Jul17 25728_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_12Jun11
43275_male_Var_07Jun17 49860_male_Isère_13Jul22 43301_female_Var_07Jun17 43310_female_Var_07Jun17
 
43339_female_Var_07Jun17 33242_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_1Jul13 2093_female_Isère_30Jun06  

An amazing butterfly of mountainous regions. You would not forget the first time you saw one, and it rightly has iconic status in the Alpes. Its hairiness, body size, wing shape and markings make it appear to be a throwback to prehistoric insects, unrelated to today’s delicate little creatures. However, it glides effortlessly over mountain slopes in a way that transfixes the watcher. Although it is threatened in France and protected in many European countries, I have found it not uncommon in areas such as the Vercors, the Pyrénées and the Alpes-Maritimes.

 

The markings are very variable, with many different local forms, especially the red spots, and sometimes the underside veins can be clearly yellow (e.g. 25728).

 

The wings tend to have a waxy appearance when worn, through loss of scales, although the forewing margins are usually devoid of scales even in fresh specimens, but it does not seems to affect its flight. The only other non-Parnassius species that has the same waxy appearance is the Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi).

The female is usually larger, sometimes with a greyish suffusion, and with larger red spots and sometimes additional red spots on the upf post-discal area and the uph near the anal angle. Apollo is superficially very similar to the Small Apollo (P. phoebus) with which it often flies. A brief description of the differences is given on the phoebus page.

 

The females of all three French Parnassius species have a device at the end of the abdomen to prevent mating when it has already done so, called a sphragis. I believe it to be a waxy substance applied by males after copulation which then hardens. I had believed that I had not seen a female apollo sphragis even though I had a photo of 33242 on this page which clearly showed the sphragis at the end of the abdomen. My thanks to the person who sent me an email to point this out, as I lost the email when my old laptop expired and was unable to thank them.

 

The Clouded Apollo (P. mnemosyne) sphragis is particularly large; an example can be seen on the mnemosyne page.

 

A superb video of the life-cycle of apollo has been produced by Filming VarWild and can be viewed on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP7SUaG6a8Y

ref sex

observations

alt. m
17946 M

a male, mainly based on body shape and the fact that it is puddling (taking salts). The absence of scale loss suggests that this is a very fresh specimen.

1120
7995 M

a male, based on the body shape and general shape and size of the black marks, as indicated by the illustrations in T&L.

900
25721 M a male, freshly emerged and with a slight yellowish tinge. 1080
26143 M a male. 1400
43329 M a male, fresh but with a rather dusky feel, so much so that it could possibly be female, but I think the body length suggests male. 830
33245 F a slightly sombre female. 33242 is the underside 1250
44708 F the dusky feel and the short body length indicate that 44708 is a female. 1900
25728 M a male, the underside of 25721, showing the strong yellow colouration that was to a lesser extent apparent on the upperside. 1080
43275 M a fresh male, nectaring. 830
49860 M  amale, nectaring in company with about 5-10 others, unusual to see so many in close proximity. 1220
43301 F a fresh female, with a slightly aberrant discal spot. 830
43310 F a female, with beautiful deep red spots, as several others on this page. 830
43339 F a female, very dusky in the unf marginal region. 830
33242 F a female, the underside of 33245. 1250
2093 F

the unh spots are quite dark red, especially in the basal area, perhaps more noticeable as this was quite a fresh specimen. I'm guessing that it is female based on body size, but the behaviour (sitting on the road) maybe indicates male, although for no convincing reason. It has the unfortunate habit of settling on mountain roads, which does not help its threatened status.

1020

 

17946_male?_Isère_11Jul09

 

7995_male_Isère_5Jul07

 

25721_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_12Jun11

 

26143_male_Alpes-Maritimes_02Jul11

 

43329_male_Var_07Jun17

 

33245_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_1Jul13

 

44708_female_Alpes-Maritimes_20Jul17

 

25728_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_12Jun11

 

43275_male_Var_07Jun17

 

49860_male_Isère_13Jul22

 

43301_female_Var_07Jun17

 

43310_female_Var_07Jun17

 

43339_female_Var_07Jun17

 

33242_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_1Jul13

 

2093_female_Isère_30Jun06