Parnassius phoebus

Parnassius phoebus, known as the Phoebus Apollo or small Apollo, is a butterfly species of the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, found in the Palearctic and North America.
P. phoebus is found in the Alps, Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Alaska and Canada south through the United States to Utah and New Mexico.
Description
Male: the costal spots of forewing usually without red, the anterior one sometimes with white pupil; submarginal band faint and abbreviated or interrupted; no spot at hind margin; hindwing with red ocelli which are usually small, and sometimes with a submarginal row of feebly marked black spots; the veins often marked with well-defined elongate black punctures.
Female: with better defined and more extended markings; vitreous margin of forewing separated from the submarginal band by large white uniform spots; the second costal spots often pupilled red, connected with one another by black scaling, on disc sometimes blackish shadows; on hindwing a greyish vitreous marginal band, distinct submarginal half-moons, which are contiguous, forming a band, two larger red ocelli, the posterior one occasionally with white pupil; anal spots sometimes intensified and one of them filled in with red.
Habitat
Mountains at 1,600 to 2,800 meters, in particular between 1,800 and 2,200 meters above sea level, in humid damp and wet places such as edges of mountain streams and near springs and fresh seepages and in valleys (Schneetälchen) according to the preferences of its caterpillar food plant.
Larval foods
Saxifraga species
Sedum species
Sempervivum montanum
Subspecies
P. phoebus has the following subspecies:
Parnassius phoebus alpestris Verity, 1911
Parnassius phoebus var. anna Stichel, 1907
Parnassius phoebus aktashicus
Parnassius phoebus alaskensis Eisner, 1956
Parnassius phoebus altaica Ménétriés, 1859
Parnassius phoebus amalthea Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus ampliusmaculata Bryk, 1929
Parnassius phoebus apricatus Stichel, 1906
Parnassius phoebus var. aristion Fruhstorfer, 1923
Parnassius phoebus var. astriotes Fruhstorfer, 1923
Parnassius phoebus badmaevi Martynenko & Gluschenko, 2001
Parnassius phoebus bajangolus Yakovlev, 2006
Parnassius phoebus basimaculata Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus behrii Edwards, 1870
Parnassius phoebus biexcelsior Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus var. blachieri Fruhstorfer, 1921
Parnassius phoebus bulawskii
Parnassius phoebus catullius Fruhstorfer, 1923
Parnassius phoebus cardinalis Oberthür, 1891
Parnassius phoebus var. casta Stichel, 1907
Parnassius phoebus cerenus Martin, 1922
Parnassius phoebus chingizid Yakovlev, 2006
Parnassius phoebus var. confederationis Fruhstorfer, 1921
Parnassius phoebus corybas Fischer De Waldheim, 1836
Parnassius phoebus costalinigroocellata Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus crocedominensis Nardelli & Sala, 1986
Parnassius phoebus cubitalis Bryk & Eisner 1937
Parnassius phoebus var. cutullius Fruhstorfer, 1923
Parnassius phoebus dakotaensis Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus discocircumcincta Eisner 1955
Parnassius phoebus eisneri Bryk, 1928
Parnassius phoebus elias Bryk, 1934
Parnassius phoebus ernaeides Bryk & Eisner, 1937
Parnassius phoebus ernestinae Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus var. expectatus Fruhstorfer, 1921
Parnassius phoebus fermata Bryk, 1921
Parnassius phoebus festal Turati, 1932
Parnassius phoebus flavomaculata Moltrecht, 1933
Parnassius phoebus fortuna A Bang-Haas, 1912
Parnassius phoebus var. gulschenkoi Iwamoto, 1997
Parnassius phoebus gazelii Previel, 1936
Parnassius phoebus golovinus Holland, 1930
Parnassius phoebus grundi Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus guppyi Wyatt, 1971
Parnassius phoebus halasicus Huang & Murayama, 1992
Parnassius phoebus hansi Bryk, 1945
Parnassius phoebus hardwicki Kane, 1885
Parnassius phoebus hermador dos Passos, 1964
Parnassius phoebus hermadur Brown & Eff & Rotger, 1856
Parnassius phoebus var. hermiston Fruhstorfer, 1922
Parnassius phoebus herrichi Oberthür, 1891
Parnassius phoebus hollandi Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus intermedius Ménétriés,1849
Parnassius phoebus intermedioides Storace, 1951
Parnassius phoebus interpositus Herz, 1903
Parnassius phoebus kamtchatica Ménétries, 1886
Parnassius phoebus lessini Sala, 1996
Parnassius phoebus leonhardi Rühl ,1892
Parnassius phoebus leucostigma Austaut, 1912
Parnassius phoebus magnus W G Wright, 1905
Parnassius phoebus manitobaensis Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus mariae Bryk, 1912
Parnassius phoebus maximus Bryk & Eisner, 1937
Parnassius phoebus melanica Verity, 1911
Parnassius phoebus melanophorus Bryk, 1921
Parnassius phoebus mendicus Stichel ,1907
Parnassius phoebus minor Verity, 1907
Parnassius phoebus minusculus Bryk,1912
Parnassius phoebus montanulus Bryk & Eisner, 1931
Parnassius phoebus montanus Ehrmann, 1918
Parnassius phoebus muelleri Uffeln, 1920
Parnassius phoebus nanus Neumoegen, 1890
Parnassius phoebus nigerrimus Verity, 1907
Parnassius phoebus nigrescens Wheeler 1903
Parnassius phoebus nikolaii Asahi, Kohara, Kanda & Kawata, 1999
Parnassius phoebus nox Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus ocellata Verity, 1907
Parnassius phoebus ochotskensis Bryk & Eisner, 1931
Parnassius phoebus olympianus Burdick, 1941
Parnassius phoebus orbifer Bryk & Eisner, 1935
Parnassius phoebus var. palamedes Hemming, 1934
Parnassius phoebus paradisiacus Turati, 1932
Parnassius phoebus phoebus
Parnassius phoebus pholus Barnes & Benjamin, 1926
Parnassius phoebus plurimaculata Nitsche, 1913
Parnassius phoebus polus Ehrmann, 1917
Parnassius phoebus pseudocorybas Verity, 1907
Parnassius phoebus pseudorotgeri Eisner, 1966
Parnassius phoebus quincunx Bryk ,1915
Parnassius phoebus reducta O. Bang-Haas, 1938
Parnassius phoebus rocky Grum-Grshimallo ,1890
Parnassius phoebus rotgeri Bang-Haas, 1938
Parnassius phoebus rubina Wyatt, 1961
Parnassius phoebus rückbeili Deckert, 1909
Parnassius phoebus sacerdozi Fruhstorfer, 1906
Parnassius phoebus sauricus Lukhtanov, 1999
Parnassius phoebus savoieensis Eisner, 1957
Parnassius phoebus sayii Edwards ,1863
Parnassius phoebus sayii f. hermodur Edwards, 1881
Parnassius phoebus sedakovi Ménétriés, 1850
Parnassius phoebus var. serenus Fruhstorfer, 1921
Parnassius phoebus smintheus Doubleday, 1847
Parnassius phoebus sordellus Fruhstorfer, 1923
Parnassius phoebus styriacus Fruhstorfer, 1851
Parnassius phoebus sternitzki McDunnough, 1936
Parnassius phoebus tersa Verity, 1947
Parnassius phoebus tessinorum Fruhstorfer, 1921
Parnassius phoebus tsenguun Churkin, 2003
Parnassius phoebus uralensis Ménétriés, 1859
Parnassius phoebus utahensis Rothschild, 1918
Parnassius phoebus vaschenkoi Hirschfeld & Schäffler, 2004
Parnassius phoebus velutus Martin, 1922
Parnassius phoebus verity Ehrmann, 1918
Parnassius phoebus veronicolus Martin, 1922
Parnassius phoebus werschoturovi O. Bang-Haas, 1934
Parnassius phoebus var. virginea Austaut, 1910
Parnassius phoebus vorbrodti Bryk & Eisner, 1943
Parnassius phoebus xanthus Ehrmann, 1918
Parnassius phoebus yukonensis Eisner, 1969
Parnassius phoebus zamolodtschikovi A. Belik, 1996
Similar species
Parnassius smintheus, which is a closely related species found in North America, is often misidentified as Parnassius phoebus. Some researchers also tend to split the North American population of Parnassius smintheus into two or three species, the northernmost of which are usually regarded as being part of P. phoebus, while the rest is considered to be P. smintheus.
References
Bernard Turlin et Luc Manil, 2005 Étude synoptique et répartition mondiale des espèces du genre "Parnassius" Latreille 1804 ("Lepidoptera Papilionidae") Luc Manil, Paris.
External links
Rusinsects Text, photographs.
Tree line and Parnassius phoebus smintheus.
phoebus
Butterflies described in 1793
Butterflies of Europe