Apollo

A “divine” butterfly ?☀️

The apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo, family Papilionidae) generally lives above 1200 m of altitude and is found on some of the highest mountains in Europe and Asia. It is in fact a species that survived the last ice age, taking refuge at high altitudes. Loves sunny sites and forest clearings.

Its name comes from Apollo, the Greek god of the sun ☀️.

Apollo is a large and beautiful butterfly ?, with a wingspan between 5 and 8 cm. It has a white background color and 4 circular spots (ocelli) of intense red color on the hind wings, partly visible even when they are covered by the fore wings.

The caterpillar ? is velvety black with a series of orange-red spots along the sides; it feeds on succulent plants of the Sedum and Sempervivum genera ?.

A peculiarity of the butterfly is the hiss it produces during the flight, as it moves from one flower to another ??.

⁉️ Did you know? ?

The Apollo is a butterfly highly sought after by collectors and is a protected species: it was even the first species of butterfly listed in the fauna protection lists and its capture has been prohibited ? in Germany since 1936.