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LEPIDOPTERA

Parnassius apollo
Parnassius apollo democratus Krulikowsky, 1906

· TYPE LOCALITY. Sweden.
· RANGE. The whole of Europe, Tian-Shan and Siberia to Yakutia; also from the N. Urals to Transcaucasia, Asia Minor and the Middle East; Mongolia.
· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. An extremely widely distributed Eurasian species represented by small local populations, as a rule. Very characteristic of it is the great individual variation which has led to the creation of a large number of subspecific names. However, most of the features used in the description of these taxa are not constant geographically and characterize none of the populations as a whole. Therefore, perhaps only most distinctive subspecies are worth to be mentioned: ssp. finmarchicus Rothschild, 1909 the N. European part (Karelia); ssp. democratus Krulikowsky, 1906 - the central European part; ssp. rosenius Fruhstarter, 1923 - the Carpathians; ssp. limicola Stichel, 1906 - the Urals; ssp. alpherakyi Krulikowsky, 1906 - the Altai Mts.; ssp. merzbacheri Pruhstorfer, 1906 - N. Tian-Shan, Dzhungarsky Alatau; ssp. meinhardi Sheljuzhko, 1924 - W. Kazakhstan, W. Siberia; ssp. sibirica Nordmann, 1851 - E. Siberia; ssp. hesebolus Nordmann, 1851 - Transhaikalia, Yakutia; ssp. suaneticus Arnold, 1 909 - the Caucasus Major; ssp. kashtshenko Sheljuzhko, 1908 the Caucasus Minor, the Armenian Highland. In Middle Asia, the species is sympatric with P. tianschanicus, sometimes forming hybrids.
· HABITATS AND BIOLOGY . Occurring on plains (preferring dry pine and mixed forests) as well as in the mountains at 1,000 to 2,800 m a.s.l. (inhabiting stony slopes in the belt of high-grass alpine meadows). Flight period: June-August. Host plants: Sedum album, Hylotelephium caucasicum and Sempervivum. spp. First instar larva hibernating inside the chorion; pupation takes place in a loose cocoon in the litter or under stones. Being very local and particular in its ecological requirements, the butterfly is very susceptible to anthropogenic disturbances, especially in the plain areas, where in some cases it has been extinguished. The species is included as endangered in the International Red Data Book.

Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997