Butterflies of
Europe
Scarce Swallowtail
Iphiclides
podalirius
LINNAEUS, 1758
Family -
PAPILIONIDAE
subfamily -
PAPILIONINAE
Tribe - LEPTOCIRCINI
subtribe -
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Iphiclides podalirius
Zante, Greece
© Martin Parr |
Introduction
The genus
Iphiclides comprises just 3 species,
feisthamelii, podalirius and the confusingly named
podalirinus. The latter was
once considered
to be a subspecies of podalirius but is no
recognised as a distinct species, and is restricted to China.
Iphiclides feisthamelii is considered by many workers to be a subspecies
of podalirius. It is found in Spain, Portugal,
southern France and north Africa. It differs from
podalirius in having a paler almost white ground colour, and has a darker
and broader submarginal band on the hindwings.
Iphiclides podalirius is distributed across most of central and southern
Europe, excluding the British Isles, Ireland and Fennoscandia.
Its common name
Scarce Swallowtail refers to the fact that it has on extremely
rare occasions been recorded in Britain, e.g. in 1895 two
specimens were captured, one in Devon and the other in Kent. These
may however have been "fake" captures, a practice common in the
Victorian era when collectors would do almost anything to raise
their status among their contemporaries. There is no evidence that
the species was ever a resident or regular migrant to the British
Isles.
In Europe the
butterfly is widespread and fairly common, although it has become
much scarcer in recent years as a result of the removal of
blackthorn bushes and hedges.
Habitats
This species
occurs in warm and usually dry habitats where blackthorn grows in profusion. It
is found from sea level to at least 2400m but is most often encountered below
1500m.
Lifecycle
The eggs are
laid on the foliage of blackthorn Prunus spinosa,
or less commonly on other Prunus species including
amygdalus, avium,
domestica, persica,
armeniaca, mahaleb and
padus. There are also records of larvae feeding on
Pyrus communis, Malus
domestica, Crataegus monogyna and
Sorbus aucuparia.
Adult behaviour
Both sexes are
usually encountered singly. Males visit seepages and patches of damp soil where
they imbibe mineralised moisture. At such times they keep their wings firmly
closed.
Females are more often seen nectaring at the
flowers of trees and bushes including apple, pear, cherry, lilac and
Buddleia,
but also visit herbaceous plants including valerian, bugle,
thistles, knapweeds, ragwort and stonecrop. When nectaring the wings are usually
held at a 45° angle as shown in the photo above.
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