page_title: Zerynthia polyxena
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Zerynthia polyxena / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Papilionidae - Zerynthia polyxena
context_page_description: Zerynthia polyxena, the southern festoon, is a striking butterfly belonging to the butterfly family Papilionidae.
context_section_description: The southern festoon can reach a wingspan of 46–52 mm. The females have slightly longer wings, usually lighter colored than males. The basic color of the wings is yellow, with a complicated pattern of several black bands and spots.
  On the edges of the hindwings they have a black sinuous line with a series of blue and red warning spots to deter potential predators (aposematism). The body is dark brown and bears red patches on the sides of the abdomen.
  This species is rather similar to Zerynthia rumina, Zerynthia cerisyi and Zerynthia cretica. However this butterfly can be confused only with the Spanish festoon (Z. rumina). The differences are in the presence of blue on the hind wings of Z. polyxena and the relatively lower amount of red on its forewings as compared to Z. rumina. The ranges of these two species overlap only in southeast France.
  The caterpillars of Z. polyxena are up to 35 millimeters long. They are initially black, then they are yellowish with six rows of fleshy orange and black spikes all over the body.
caption: Dorsal view
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