''Parnassius'' is a genus of northern circumpolar and montane (alpine and Himalayan)
butterflies
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
usually known as Apollos or snow Apollos. They can vary in colour and form significantly based on their altitude. They also show an adaptation to high altitudes called altitudinal melanism. They show dark bodies and darkened colouration at the wingbase which helps them warm faster using the sun.
Although classified under the
swallowtail butterfly family, none of the ''Parnassius'' species possesses tails.
The larvae feed on species of plants belonging to the
Papaveraceae
The Papaveraceae are an economically important family of about 42 genera and approximately 775 known species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales, informally known as the poppy family. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperat ...
and
Crassulaceae
The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crass ...
families, and like the other swallowtail butterfly larvae, possess an
osmeterium
The osmeterium is a defensive organ found in all papilionid larvae, in all stages. The organ is situated in the prothoracic segment and can be everted when the larva feels threatened. The everted organ resembles a fleshy forked tongue (not unlik ...
. Unlike most butterflies that have exposed pupae, they pupate inside a loose silken cocoon.
Identification and ecology
''Parnassius'' species of butterflies are often hard to identify and can sometimes only be identified by dissection of the
genitalia
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
.
The phylogeny of the group is still under study using
molecular techniques. The exact number of species within the genus is disputed and numbers range from 38 to 47.
The ''Parnassius'' butterflies also have a peculiar reproductive strategy in that the male has special accessory glands that produce a
mating plug
A mating plug, also known as a copulation plug, sperm plug, vaginal plug, or sphragis (Latin, from Greek σφραγίς ''sphragis'', "a seal"), is gelatinous secretion used in the mating of some species. It is deposited by a male into a female ge ...
that seals the female genitalia after mating. This is believed to ensure the success of the male and to prevent other males from mating and avoids sperm competition.
Butterflies of this genus have been widely used models to study
metapopulation
A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1969 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in ...
s,
population genetics
Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and pop ...
and
gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent a ...
. Their patchy distribution and restricted migration makes them vulnerable to the effects of
genetic drift
Genetic drift, also known as allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance.
Genetic drift may cause gene variants to disappear completely and there ...
and considerable colour variations can exist in individuals from different regions.
Species
Species include:
PARNASSIAN EVERSMANN'S (Parnassius eversmanni) (6-25-2016) denali highway, mile p13 pass, near paxson, alaska (5) (28494228324).jpg, ''Parnassius eversmanni
''Parnassius eversmanni'', or Eversmann's parnassian, is a high-altitude butterfly which is found in eastern Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Alaska, and the Yukon. It is a member of the snow Apollo genus (''Parnassius'') of the swallowtail family, Papi ...
''
Papilionidae - Parnassius apollo-1.JPG, ''Parnassius apollo
The Apollo or mountain Apollo (''Parnassius apollo''), is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae.
Etymology
The species is named in the classical tradition for the deity Apollo.
Subspecies
Subspecies include:
* ''Parnassius apollo apollo'' L ...
''
Parnassius glacialis (side).JPG, ''Parnassius glacialis
''Parnassius glacialis'', the glacial Apollo or Japanese clouded Apollo, is a high-altitude butterfly found in Japan, eastern China, and Korea. It is a member of the snow Apollo genus (''Parnassius'') of the swallowtail family (Papilionidae).
De ...
''
Parnassius mnemosyne - Dumanlı apollo 03.jpg, '' Parnassius mnemosyne''
Synonymy
Eight
subgenera
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
are recognized within the genus:
*''Driopa''
Korshunov, 1988 - type species: ''Papilio mnemosyne''
Linnaeus, 1758
*''Sachaia''
Korshunov, 1988 - type species: ''Parnassius tenedius''
Eversmann, 1851
*''Parnassius''
Latreille, 1804; ''Nouv. Dict. Hist. nat''. 24 (6): 185, 199 - type species: ''Papilio apollo''
Linnaeus
*''Tadumia''
Moore 902
__NOTOC__
Year 902 (Roman numerals, CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, Adalbert II, margr ...
/small>; ''Lepidoptera Indica'', 5 (53): 116 - type species: ''Papilio acco'' Gray
*''Kailasius'' Moore, 902
__NOTOC__
Year 902 (Roman numerals, CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, Adalbert II, margr ...
/small>; ''Lepidoptera Indica'', 5 (53): 118 - type species: ''Parnassius charltonius'' Gray
*''Koramius'' Moore, 902
__NOTOC__
Year 902 (Roman numerals, CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, Adalbert II, margr ...
/small>; ''Lepidoptera Indica'', 5 (53): 120 - type species: ''Parnassius delphius'' Eversmann
*''Lingamius'' Bryk, 1935; ''Das Tierreich'' 65: 538-540 - type species: ''Parnassius hardwickii'' Gray
*''Eukoramius'' Bryk, 1935; ''Das Tierreich'' 65: 630, 673-674 - type species: ''Parnassius imperator'' Oberthür
Other names that are no longer valid include:
*''Parnassis'' Hübner, 819/small>; ''Verz. bekannter Schmett''. (6): 90 (or misspelled or emended?) - type species: ''Papilio apollo'' Linnaeus
*''Therius'' Billberg, 1820; ''Enum. Ins. Mus. Billb''.: 75 - type species: ''Papilio apollo'' Linnaeus
*''Doritis'' Fabricius, 1807; ''Magazin f. Insektenk''. (Illiger) 6: 283 - type species: ''Papilio apollo'' Linnaeus
Evolutionary relationships
A
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study from 2008 suggests firstly that ''
Baronia brevicornis
''Baronia brevicornis'', commonly known as the short-horned baronia, is a species of butterfly in the monotypic genus ''Baronia'' and is placed in a subfamily of its own, the Baroniinae, a sister group of the remainder of the swallowtail butterf ...
'' Salvin 1893, rather than belonging to an outgroup Baroniinae belongs to Parnassiini, together with ''
Hypermnestra
Hypermnestra ( grc, Ὑπερμνήστρα, ''Hypermnēstra''), in Greek mythology, was a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaids the daughter of King Danaus, son of King Belus of Egypt. Her mother was Elephantis and full sister to Gorgophone.
...
'' and ''Parnassius''. Secondly that the earliest split within the genus ''Parnassius'' is between subgenus ''Parnassius'' (the 'apollo' group, whose caterpillars feed on
Crassulaceae
The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crass ...
, exceptionally
Saxifragaceae
Saxifragaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot order Saxifragales. The taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the scope much reduced in the era of molecular phylogenetic analysis. The f ...
) and the ancestor of the remaining seven subgenera. The existence of the subgenera is confirmed by molecular phylogenies. Six of the other subgenera have
Fumariaceae
Fumarioideae is a subfamily of the family Papaveraceae (the poppy family). It was formerly treated as a separate family, the Fumariaceae (the fumitory, fumewort or bleeding-heart family). It consists of about 575 species of herbaceous plants in 2 ...
as the larval food plant, while the larvae of the remaining genus ''Kreizbergia'' feed on
Scrophulariaceae
The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...
[Michel, F.; Rebourg, C.; Cosson, E. & Descimon, H. (2008). "Molecular phylogeny of Parnassiinae butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) based on the sequences of four mitochondrial DNA segments". ''Annales de la Société Entomologique de France''. (n.s.) 44 (1): 1-36.]
Important collections
*
National Museum of Natural History, Leiden, (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie)
Curt Eisner
Curt Eisner (April 28, 1890 in Zabrze – December 30, 1981 in The Hague) was a German entomologist who specialised in snow butterflies or Parnassinae. His collections of Parnassinae are in Naturalis, in Leiden, and his Ornithoptera and Morp ...
collection:
Types
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* Typ ...
listed in Eisner, C. ''Parnassiidae-Typen in der Sammlung J.C.Eisner''. Leiden. E.J.Brill, 1966. 190 pp. Col.frontispiece & 84 plts.(Zool. Verh. RMNH, 81). Review of worldwide species of Parnassiidae, 719
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
included.
*
Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...
: Specimens largely determined by Curt Eisner types listed in Ackery, P. R. (1973): A list of the type-specimens of Parnassius (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in the British Museum (Natural History). ''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology'' 29 (1) (9.XI.1973): 1—35, 1 p
pdf*
Ulster Museum
The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...
, Belfast,
H.M Peebles
Howard Maxwell Peebles (7 March 1872 – 15 November 1944)''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995'' was an English entomologist who specialised in butterflies.
The Peebles family own ...
collection: Type list available on CD (Nash, R and Eisner, C.)
*
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...
, Paris: Types listed by
Bernardi, G., and
Viette, P. 1966. Les types et typoides de Parnassius (s.l.) se trouvant au Museum de Paris. ''Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France'' 71 95-103, 163-166. 9 229-233, 304-309.
References
*
Further reading
*Kocman, S. 2009 ''Parnassius of Tibet and Adjacent Areas'' Tshikolovets, Kiev 64 col plates, maps, figs
* Glassberg, Jeffrey ''Butterflies through Binoculars, The West'' (2001)
* Guppy, Crispin S. and Shepard, Jon H. ''Butterflies of British Columbia'' (2001)
* James, David G. and Nunnallee, David ''Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies'' (2011)
* Pelham, Jonathan ''Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada'' (2008)
* Pyle, Robert Michael ''The Butterflies of Cascadia'' (2002)
*Korb, S., 2020 An annotated checklist of the tribus Parnassiini sensu Korshunov of the Old World (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) ''Acta Biologica'' Sibirica ISSN : 2412-1908
External links
"Genus ''Parnassius''" ''Insecta.pro''.
Type specimens at ETHPhotos de Parnassidae
GloBIS DatabaseIncludes type images
NSGGenetic (DNA) vouchers
Images
''Parnassius'' of the WorldGoran Waldeck
{{Taxonbar , from=Q1766885
Butterfly genera
Papilionidae