As children searching our gardens and orchard for nuisance insects, my brother and I complained that the moth and butterfly books in the library were too British. "Aren't they the same?" Mother was surprised, because the books tended to fall open to the few pages that described the few species that are common to both countries. But although many British and European butterflies have American "cousin" species, similar in looks and ecological niches, most butterflies are found in one country or the other, not both. We wanted to read about the ones we saw!
This web site's commitment to provide information about butterflies at all stages of their lives grew out of that early disappointment. However, the Internet is global. This web site is read around the world and will consider butterflies found around the world.
So, this week, beginning with the Swallowtails, we consider the line-jumping genus Allancastria. The most efficient way to look up butterflies is by their Latin names but several Swallowtail species have been given different names as scientists learned more about them. Allancastria caucasica is now at the front of the list of Swallowtail species in alphabetical order. It used to be called Zerynthia caucasica, and be close to the end.
For Swallowtail butterflies they are small. This little one was photographed in Georgia,
It's not always even been known as caucasica, **the Caucasian, although the Caucasus Mountains are where it lives. A. caucasica is one of the species in which individual size and color can vary widely, causing individuals to have been first described as different species, though the variations are produced by environmental influences like temperature. Generally in butterfly species that vary widely, individuals exposed to colder temperatures are smaller and paler than those exposed to warmer temperatures. Older European books give some varieties of A. caucasica different species names like fkatshukovi, cachetica,, and cerysii (Thais cerysii), and Russian sources call this species Kafkaz or Kavkas, which reflects the way they pronounce "Caucasus."
All butterflies (and moths and caterpillars) have some hair, but butterflies usually look smooth. Not A. caucasica. Its body can appear furry, especially when backlighted.
The scallops on the wing edges can fill in with white, or form a serrated edge.
Males are smaller than females. It's hard to believe that the structure of his wings caused scientists to classify this little guy in the same general category with the big Birdwing butterflies--but they do.
Though not part of the United States' "Save the Butterflies" campaign, the Babochki kavkaza (Caucasian Butterflies) are threatened by habitat loss just as so many of our butterflies are. Their host plant is a vine called birthwort, in the Aristolochia genus along with our pipevine. The vine grows best in hardwood forests. Females are usually found near the host plant; males prefer to hang out near the sunny cleared edges of the forests.
No source provides photos of the eggs. Caterpillars are grayish, with bumps and bristles rather than spots; some are pale gray, some are dark.
Pupae are drab and easily overlooked on the forest floor.
Adult butterflies emerge as early as April and fly until June. Their average adult lifespan has been estimated as low as twelve days, partly because cold snaps put them into hibernation mode and birds can then find and eat them. They seem to be pollinators more than composters
Never very common or well documented, this species' population seems to be declining. It is classified as endangered in Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey.
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