Page 40 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Papilionidae
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Eastern Europe to the Middle East, Armenia to Turkmenistan
TRIBUTION
DIS
HABITAT
HABIT A T Rocky slopes, olive groves, and vineyards
HABITAT
HOS T PLANT S Pipevine (Aristolochia spp.)
HOST PLANTS
HOST PLANTS
NO
NOTE
TE
NOTE Brightly colored caterpillar that hides in leaf bags
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERV A TION S T A TUS Near threatened
ADULT WINGSPAN
2⅛–2⅜ in (54–60 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
Up to 1⅞ in (48 mm)
ARCHON APOLLINUS
FALSE APOLLO
38
(HERBST, 1789)

Female False Apollo butterflies lay round, green eggs on
the underside of leaves, and the young caterpillars appear in
April and May. At first they are gregarious, living together
in leaf webs, but as they get older they move apart and
shelter in individual leaf bags, a feature not seen in other
European swallowtail species. The mature caterpillars crawl
to the ground, where they pupate just below the surface in
a loose cocoon. They overwinter and emerge in spring.
The adults are on the wing from March to April; a single
generation is produced annually.

Archon apollinus is a variable species with up to five subspecies.
Characteristically, the adults lose their wing scales as they age,
leaving transparent areas of wing, especially on the forewings;
in older specimens the forewings may be completely transparent.
The species is under threat from herbicide sprays that kill its
host plants, surviving better in the less intensively farmed
regions of Turkmenistan.

Actual size

The False Apollo caterpillar has a cigar shape
with a brown-black body covered in short, black
hairs. Dorsally, there are two rows of red spots
and a central double row of white spots, although
the white may be absent in some individuals.
Laterally, there is also a row of red spots.