''Parnassius acdestis'' is a high-altitude butterfly found in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is a member of the genus ''
Parnassius
''Parnassius'' is a genus of northern circumpolar and montane (alpine and Himalayan) butterflies 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 h ...
'' of the swallowtail family,
Papilionidae
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larg ...
. The species was
first described by
Grigory Grum-Grshimailo in 1891.
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 P.R. Ackery (1975).
Hindwing with very narrow marginal band, the submarginal spots isolated, small; the ultracellular costal spot of forewing continued by grey scaling, forming an s-shaped band.
[ Stichel in Seitz, 1906 (Parnassius). ''Die Groß-Schmetterlinge der Erde''. Die Groß-Schmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes. Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, Stuttgart.]
Subspecies
* ''Parnassius acdestis cerevisiae''
Weiss & Michel
* ''Parnassius acdestis cinerosus''
Stichel
* ''Parnassius acdestis felix''
Eisner
* ''Parnassius acdestis hades''
(Bryk)
* ''Parnassius acdestis imperatoides''
Weiss & Michel
* ''Parnassius acdestis irenaephis''
Bryk
* ''Parnassius acdestis ladakensis''
Avinoff, 1916
* ''Parnassius acdestis lathonius''
Bryk
* ''Parnassius acdestis limitis''
Weiss & Michel
* ''Parnassius acdestis macdonardi''
Rothschild
* ''Parnassius acdestis manco''
Koiwaya
* ''Parnassius acdestis ohkuma''
Koiwaya
* ''Parnassius acdestis peeblesi''
Bryk
* ''Parnassius acdestis peshkei''
Eisner, 1933
* ''Parnassius acdestis rupshuana''
Avinoff, 1916
* ''Parnassius acdestis takedai''
Mikami & Sakakibara, 1988
* ''Parnassius acdestis vogti''
(Bang-Haas)
* ''Parnassius acdestis yanae''
Huang, 1998
Range
Kirghistan, Nepal, northern India (Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim), western China, Sinkiang and Szechwan.
Status
Very local. Rather rare. Not known to be threatened.
See also
*
Papilionidae
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larg ...
*
List of butterflies of India
The following is a list of the butterflies of India.
India has extremely diverse terrain, climate and vegetation, which comprises extremes of heat cold, desert and jungle, of low-lying plains and the highest mountains, of dryness and dampness, i ...
*
List of butterflies of India (Papilionidae)
This is a list of the butterflies of family Papilionidae (superfamily Papilionoidea), or the swallowtails, which are found in India. This family of large and beautiful butterflies is well represented with 89 species found within Indian borde ...
References
*
*
*
* Sakai S., Inaoka S., Toshiaki A., Yamaguchi S., Watanabe Y., (2002) ''The Parnassiology. The Parnassius Butterflies, A Study in Evolution'', Kodansha, Japan.
* Weiss Jean-Claude, (1999) ''Parnassiinae of the World'',
Hillside Books, Canterbury Hillside Books, Canterbury was a publisher specialising in books on entomology and small equipment associated with this science.
Origin
It was established in 1989, directed by Lydie Leforestier.
Initially it was in Canterbury, England but then ...
, UK. ,
Further reading
*
sv:''Parnassius acdestis'' - Swedish Wikipedia provides further references and synonymy
External links
NRMHolotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...
of ''Parnassius acdestis peeblesi''
Bryk, 1932.
acdestis
Fauna of Pakistan
Butterflies described in 1891
{{Papilionidae-stub