''Parnassius przewalskii'' is a high-altitude butterfly which is found in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

and west

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is a member of the snow Apollo 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 larges ...

). The taxonomic status of this butterfly is uncertain. It was described as a species but some authors regard ''P. przewalskii'' as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of '' P. acco''.

Description

Specifically distinct on account of the different structure of the pouch of the female. Smaller than a typical specimen of ''hardwickei'', with only slight differences in the forewing, marginal band narrow, ending in an acute point at hinder angle, the submarginal band appearing as far as hindmargin as a narrow tapering stripe shaded with black, the band broken step-like at 3. Subcostal, in the male strongly incurved in middle, in female on the whole broader and more even. Beyond the cell two costal spots, centred with deep red like the hindmarginal spot, on the disc blackish shading. Hindwing with large red basal spot, two large broadly red ocelli, between which there is a black diffuse streak, there being another small black spot between the anterior ocellus and the basal spot; the blackish posterior area projecting tooth-like at apex of cell, sometimes (in female) the cell completely encircled; from the posterior ocellus extends forward and backward a curved band of black spots; close to the margin four black spots filled in with blue, the anterior one sometimes plain black. Underside like upper, but paler, the anal spots filled in with pale red, the ground of wings brownish. Pouch of female whitish, encircling the last abdominal segment as a broad half ring, that bladder-shaped, posteriorly acuminate. Stichel in Seitz, 1906 (Parnassius). ''Die Groß-Schmetterlinge der Erde''. Die Groß-Schmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes. Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, Stuttgart. The species is named for

Nikolai Przhevalsky Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Prjevalsky;; pl, Nikołaj Przewalski, . – ) was a Russian geographer of Polish descent (he was born in a Polish noble family), and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia. Although he never reache ...

References

*Weiss, J.-C. 1992. ''The Parnassiinae of the World'', Part 2.

Sciences Nat Sciences Nat was the academic publisher specialising in entomology of the Societé Sciences Nat. The society was established in 1971 and based in the rue de la Mare in Paris. Three years later it moved to the rue des Alouettes and later to Venet ...

Venette Venette () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The town is located along the river Oise, near Compiègne. Population Its inhabitants are called Venettiens. There are about 2800 inhabitants (2012). See also * Communes of the ...

; 87 pp. *Chou, I. (ed) 1994. ''Monographia Rhopalocerorum Sinensium'' (Monograph of Chinese Butterflies). Henan Scientific and Technological Publishing House, Zhengzhou.(in Chinese)

External links

Timchenko Funet
photographs

photographs przewalskii Butterflies described in 1887 {{Papilionidae-stub