Parnassius clodius

Clodian Apollo
Parnassius clodius incredibilis, Male from St. Elie
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Parnassius
Species:	P. clodius
Binomial name
Parnassius clodius Ménétries, 1855

Parnassius clodius (Ménétries, 1835) is a high altitude butterfly which is found in the U.S. and Canada. It is a member of the Snow Apollo genus Parnassius of the Swallowtail (Papilionidae) family.

Description

Note. The wing pattern in Parnassius species is inconsistent and the very many subspecies and forms make identification problematic and uncertain. Structural characters derived from the genitalia, wing venation, sphragis and foretibial epiphysis are more, but not entirely reliable. The description given here is a guide only.For an identification key see Ackery P.R. (1975^[1]

Ground-colour white, only in the female the short costal band placed outside the cell connected with the hindmarginal spot by an irregular dusty band, the glossy submarginal band of the forewing sharp but narrow, the male with small, the female with larger, crescent-shaped submarginal spots on the hindwing; on the latter the anal spot mostly centred with red.^[2]

Distribution

Alaska, British Columbia, Washington State, Nevada, California

Subspecies

• Parnassius clodius altaurus Dyar, 1903 Idaho and Wyoming.
• Parnassius clodius shepardi Eisner, 1966 Shepard's Parnassian.
• Parnassius clodius baldur Edwards, 1877 distinguished by reduced and less sharp markings. In the male the hindmarginal spot is mostly absent on the forewing and the anal spot on the hindwing; the posterior ocellus is reduced as a rule; the female has no submarginal crescents on the hindwing, the anal spot is rarely centred with red; in both sexes the white dusting very thin, somewhat transparent.
• Parnassius clodius claudianus Stichel, 1907 British Columbia, Vancouver Island.larger on the average, with much broadened marginal pattern on the forewing. Marginal and submarginal bands are merged into a broad stripe, through the middle of which runs only one row of small white crescents.
• Parnassius clodius incredibilis Bryk, 1932;
• Parnassius clodius menetriesii H. Edwards, 1877 the two ocelli only remain as vestiges
• Parnassius clodius pseudogallatinus Bryk, 1913 British Columbia
• Parnassius clodius sol Bryk & Eisner, 1932;
• Parnassius clodius strohbeeni Sternitzky, 1945 California

References

External links

• Montana University Butterflies and Moths of North America.
• Pteron In Japanese but binomial names. Images.
• IMNH