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Butterfly Apollo: interesting facts and description

Butterflies, like flowers, cause sincere admiration for their beauty. Each country has its own ideas about the origin of these amazing creatures. In ancient Greece it was believed that the butterfly and the soul are one and the same. And now in modern Greek language they have one name. As for Russia, the word "butterfly" was first used in the 18th century. According to most scholars, it takes its name from the word "woman" - "married woman".

Currently, most species of butterflies are listed in the Red Book. The man who is responsible for this by his irrepressible activity is destroying the habitats of their habitat. This article is dedicated to one of the most beautiful butterflies that is endangered. This is the Apollo butterfly.

origin of name

Why the Apollo butterfly was named after the Greek god of light, patron of the arts and the leader of the nine Muses, now no one will say for sure. We can only build on this account our assumptions. Butterfly is very beautiful. Large, light color, it is visible from afar. He prefers mountain plains. Maybe she was named after one of the gods because of her beauty and that she likes to live closer to the sun.

Butterfly Apollo: description and lifestyle

In dry scientific language, Apollo is the day butterfly of the family of sailfishes (Papilionidae). The full name is the sailboat Apollo (Parnassius apollo). Butterfly Apollo is incredibly beautiful - it has translucent wings of white or cream color, decorated with large round spots. On the front wings they are black. The backs have red spots with a black edging. This is the largest butterfly in European Russia. The range of its wings can reach 9-10 centimeters.

Habitat - open and warmed by the sun mountain plains, high-mountain meadows and slopes of Europe, Ukraine, the Urals, Siberia, the Caucasus, Tien Shan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The period of appearance is from July to September. Butterfly Apollo prefers large flowers of oregano, a shamrock, likes different kinds of clover. Apollo multiplies almost immediately after its release from the pupae. The female lays up to 120 eggs, each separately on the forage plant. Adult caterpillars of Apollo are also very beautiful. Black, like velvet, decorated with two rows of red-orange spots, they look very impressive. The caterpillar feeds on juicy leaves with a cleaning cloth, hare cabbage.

The stage of the pupa in Apollo lasts 1-3 weeks. Then a new butterfly appears from it.

Such a different Apollo

The insect is of great interest to naturalists in that it has a huge number of species. At least 600 varieties of Apollo are known today.

Parnassius mnemosyne clouded Apollo, or mnemosyne - one of the most beautiful species. Snow-white wings, completely transparent along the edges, are decorated only with black spots. This makes the butterfly incredibly elegant. The second name is black mnemosin, because it is only colored in two colors - white and black.

Butterfly Apollo Arctic (Parnassius arcticus) - another beautiful view. Inhabits the mountain tundra in the territory of Yakutia and the Khabarovsk Territory. Also it was found in the Magadan Region. Wings are white with small black spots. It is interesting that Gorokov's crustacean plant is fodder for butterflies and for caterpillars of the Arctic Apollo. The biology of this species is practically not studied because of its extreme rarity.

Butterfly Apollo: interesting facts and details

The beauty of this insect caused admiration of many famous researchers and biologists who described it in the most poetic terms. Someone compared the flight of Apollo with the poetry of the movement, others called it an elegant inhabitant of the Alps.

In the evening, the butterfly descends and hides in the grass at night. In case of danger, it first tries to fly away, but it makes it very clumsy because it flies poorly. Realizing that the flight can not be saved, spreads its wings and begins to rub against them, producing sibilant sounds. So she tries to intimidate her enemy. Despite the reputation of a butterfly that does not fly very well, in search of food an insect can fly a day to 5 kilometers. Apollo Arctic lives on the border of the territory, where the snow never melts. And Parnassius hannyngtoni is the most high-altitude butterfly living in the Himalayas, at an altitude of 6000 meters above sea level.

The threat of the disappearance of the most beautiful butterfly in Russia and Europe

By the middle of the 20th century, the Apollo had completely disappeared in the Moscow, Smolensk, Tambov regions. Almost in all countries of its habitat the butterfly is listed in the Red Book as an endangered species. The reasons for the disappearance of Apollo are many. First of all, this is the destruction of human food zones. Another reason is the narrow specialization of butterfly caterpillars. They can feed only by cleaning. In addition, they are very moody and sensitive to the sun. They eat only if the sun shines. It is worth it to go for the clouds - everything, the caterpillars are refusing and descend from the plant to the ground.

The largest butterfly is very noticeable on the mountain slopes. In addition, as already mentioned, the Apollo does not fly well. He does it as if reluctantly, barely flapping his wings and often sinking down for a rest. Therefore, it is an easy prey for humans.

Steps are now being taken to restore the Apollo population, but so far they have not brought any significant results. In order for the butterfly to cease to be considered a vanishing species, it is necessary to create special feeding zones and certain conditions for its existence.

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