Parnassius mnemosyne (Clouded Apollo, Schwarzer Apollo, Le semi-apollon)

Parnassius mnemosyne, also called Clouded Apollo or Schwarzer Apollo is a rare butterfly from Palaearctic ecozone (Europe). The first description was in 1758 by Linnaeus. With a wingspan of 5.0 – 6.0 cm the Clouded Apollo is a small member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. The wings are transparent with black spots.

Photos for easy identification

: Photo © by Mario Maier (Mario.Maier@butterflies.de)

: Photo © by Mario Maier (Mario.Maier@butterflies.de)

: Photo © by Mario Maier (Mario.Maier@butterflies.de)

These are nice photos of Parnassius mnemosyne (Clouded Apollo, Schwarzer Apollo, Le semi-apollon). Parnassius mnemosyne is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Palaearctic (Europe).

Description

The forewings are whitish and transparent and have two black spots. There are some black veins.
The underside is a copy of upside.

The hind wings are whitish and transparent. In the middle of the wing there is one black spot and some black veins. There is a dark zone around the body.
The underside is a copy of upside.

The body is black and very hairy. The hairs are white.

Sex differences: None

Distribution

The Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne) is a rare butterfly of the Palaearctic ecozone (Europe and Asia) without the North of Africa. The distribution extend from Europe to Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran.
You can see the Clouded Apollo until 1500 m sea level.

: This world map shows the ecozones in which this butterfly is distributed.

Flight period

The flight period of the Clouded Apollo is from May - July.

Larval food

Corydalis solida, Corydalis bulbosa, Fumaria bulbosa

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1758 by Linnaeus. Because of the high variability of this species, there are many subspecies.

Parnassius mnemosyne balcanica [Bryk & Eisner, 1930]
Parnassius mnemosyne bucharanus [Bryk, 1912]
Parnassius mnemosyne caucasia [Verity, [1911] ]
Parnassius mnemosyne craspedontis [Fruhstorfer, 1909]
Parnassius mnemosyne falsus [Pagenstecher, 1911]
Parnassius mnemosyne giganteus [Staudinger, 1886]
Parnassius mnemosyne leonhardiana [Fruhstorfer, 1917]
Parnassius mnemosyne nivalis [Grose-Smith, 1908]
Parnassius mnemosyne nubilosus [Christoph, 1873]
Parnassius mnemosyne ochraceus [Austaut, 1891]
Parnassius mnemosyne orientalis [Verity, 1911]
Parnassius mnemosyne parnassia [Bryk, 1932]
Parnassius mnemosyne problematicus [Bryk, 1912]
Parnassius mnemosyne talboti [Bryk, 1932]
Parnassius mnemosyne ucrainicus [Bryk & Eisner, 1932
Parnassius mnemosyne ugrjumovi [Bryk, 1914]
Parnassius mnemosyne uralka [Bryk, 1921]
Parnassius mnemosyne valentinae [Sheljuzhko, 1943]
Parnassius mnemosyne weidingeri [Bryk & Eisner, 1932]

The caterpillar is black with a chain of yellow spots at side. The pupa has a silken cocoon. This species overwinters as egg.

The distribution of Clouded Apollo overlap with the distributions of Small Apollo (Parnassius phoebus) and Black-veined white (Aporia crataegi)
The following differentiators are very useful to differ these similar species.

The Clouded Apollo has no red spots.
The Black-veined white has no black spots.

Protection provisions / Red List

CITES: (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora):

-no entry- (as at 23.06.2005)
EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora

-no entry- (as at 19.08.2005)
IUCN Red List of threatened species:

-no entry- (as at 2004) (see: www.redlist.org/)
Red List of endangered species of Austria:

-endangered- (category. 3)- (see: www.roteliste.at/)
Regulation of the Viennese regional government:

-protected as imago- (see: www.wien.gv.at/recht/landesrecht-wien/rechtsvorschriften/html/l4800200.htm)